THE ECLIPSE

Hello, friends.  It's been awhile now, but did any of you get to see the eclipse on April 8?  It was only 90% here in Philly, but alas the clouds rolled in as it started and disappeared as it was ending so we didn't get to see anything.  It did get darker though.  Sort of like dusk.  But not dark as it did in places where there was a total eclipse.  And the temperature did drop.

I did watch it on TV though.  I recorded it on all three of the major TV stations, but found that ABC was the best.  They had reporters in several cities and I followed it all across America.  It totally fascinated me.  And I did take pictures of the eclipse as if traveled from Mexico to Canada from the TV.  It was amazing how it changed even though it was the same thing.  Here are some of the photos I took.

 Some were light and some were dark.  Some had a large corona and some had a small one.  The coronas are different colors from green to light blue to dark blue and even gray.  The first one in Mexico I got what they call a diamond ring.  So fascinating.

When I was in college, I took an astronomy class and got 100 on every test I took.  I have always been fascinated by space.  The thought of billions of stars and planets (even billions of galaxies) just speaks to me of the awesomeness of Almighty God.

Life is very busy these days.  Went to my GI doctor yesterday and he is going to wait a few months before doing another surgery on my esophagus.  It has to calm down first.  Eating is difficut these days.

But life is still good.  And on that note, I will talk to you later.

Kathy

YOU GUESSED IT. I GOT SICK

 

Hello, friends.  I know it's been a while since my last post.  Those of you who are on facebook with me know what happened.  I got sick.  Very sick.  And not with what I talked to you about last time.

God is so good and we had a great Easter without me being sick at all.  We picked up Joe's step-mom and went out to Paradise, PA for the morning service.  There was almost no traffic and we got there about 45 minutes quicker than we usually do.  So we sat in the back and listened to their Sunday School lesson.  It was so good.  And so was the service.

We had reservations for lunch at the Lancaster Brasserie.

We didn't know where it was or how long it would take us to get there.  Well, it was close and took only a few minutes.  We got there 30 minutes early.  But they seated us right away and served us.  The food was really good.  But so expensive!  It cost over $150 for lunch!  I did not expect that.

I did love the view out the window as we ate.

The ride home was not as quick as the morning one, but it wasn't bad at all.

That evening I started getting the sniffles.  By morning it was a full blown cold.  And it got worse the next several days.  Congestion, coughing, the whole nine yards.  I have not had a cold in years so was not expecting this.  It lasted about 10 days.  I really started feeling good this past Wednesday.  I haven't done much of anything because I've been feeling so sick.  So of course I have a LOT of housework to catch up on.

But it's early morning right now.  I am going to get up, get myself together, get my medicine and breakfast, and get the trash out.  We missed the trash pickup last week, so we have to make it today.

See you all later.

Kathy

I CAN'T BE SICK FOR EASTER

 

Hello, friends.  Hope you are all doing well.  Not so much me.  About three days ago I started feeling a lot of heartburn/gas.  A lot of belching and a lot of mints did not seem to help.  I thought I might have a stomach virus that would go away in a few days.  Ever since my surgery back in 2010 things are not good for my digestive system.  Well it is now the fourth day and I woke up still feeling sick.

I can't be sick for Easter!  Joe and I had planned to go to Lancaster, attend Paradise Bible Fellowship Church in Paradise, PA, and then go out for dinner to a new to us restaurant that looks really good.  We are getting adventurous in our old age.  This will be two new restaurants in two weeks.

We got a card from Joe's step-mom for Easter.  She wrote a note on it that she had been sick for months.  I said to Joe that we should take her with us since she never gets anywhere anymore.  She has alienated a lot of her friends or they have passed away.  She can't drive and now she can't use public transportation.  She immedately accepted.  So now there are three of us going.

Joe's step-mom has no church affiliation.  She was raised Catholic, goes to a church about twice a year, and really doesn't believe anything she is told about Christianity.  This will be the first time she is going to a Bible Fellowship service which will be a HUGE change for her.  I don't think she will know what is going on.  I get along with her better than Joe does, so I will try to be sitting between her and Joe and explain things as we go along.  I think she will like the music and am praying that God will speak to her through the message.

The place we are going to eat is called the Lancaster Brasserie.  The food looks really good.  It reminds me a lot of the King George Inn.  A nice menu but not overly priced.  Joe had made reservations for him and me a few weeks ago.  But when his step-mom decided to come, he changed the reservation.  Unfortunately, he thought he was changing the reservation but actually made an additional one.  I called them yesterday and got everything straightened out.  I just hope I don't get lost going there.  Or coming back home!

And that brings me to my dilemna.  How can I go out to eat if I am feeling so sick that I can barely get crackers down?  And as I belch (which I am doing a lot) I go in and out of afib.

Please pray for this situation.  Pray I feel better.  Pray for Maryann that she hears the word and believes.  And please pray that I find my car and house keys which have been lost since Tuesday.  I feel as if I have searched everywhere, but I obviously haven't since they haven't turned up.  They must be in the house.  I haven't been anywhere else.

That's it for now.  I need to get my day started.  A lot to do.  See you all soon.  Have a wonderful day and a beautiful Easter.

Kathy

MARCH ROUNDUP

 I have made a decision to blog once a month to let everyone know what is going on.  At least for now.  I do still stop in and read your posts and occasionally comment so I am still around.

So let me tell you what's happening.

At the beginning of the month I decided that I needed to eat healthier.  Eating a bunch of junk food because I am too sick to cook just wasn't cutting it.  So I looked back through my posts and found the ones from when I used to go to the farm every other week.  I wrote down what I was given there.  Joe and I used to belong to a co-op which was fun because we paid a fee at the beginning of the season and then twice a month got a box of food.  We never knew what would be in the box and ended up trying all kinds of fruits and vegetables that we wouldn't ordinarily have eaten.  We ended up liking a lot of them.  What I made from this first purchase was an apple pie from Honeycrisp apples.  So good.

I also made a quiche with some spinach and mushrooms that I had gotten.

I used a lot of the veggies to make some chicken vegetable soup and others to make wonderful salads.  I also made wonderful roasted parsnips and a baked acorn squash.  Yes, we ate good this month.

On Thursday the 14th I had a dentist appointment to get my teeth cleaned.  When I got there I went to the handicapped entrance and rang the bell.  A guy whom I had never seen before opened the door for me.  He let me in and walked to the waiting room with me.  He told me that he was a new employee and didn't know how to check me in, so I had to wait for another person to check that I was there.  I noticed that all of the techs were people that I had never seen.

I was taken to the exam room and another girl who was new to me took the xrays and got me settled in.  Then a dentist walked in and introduced herself to me.  I asked if Dr. Reed was off that day and she told me that Dr. Reed and her husband (also her partner dentist) had retired and sold her the practice.  Well that explained a lot!  But this new dentist was great.  Very gentle.  Very nice.  In fact the entire office was great.  So I will be going back there.  But what a surprise!

The 14th was also Pi Day.  I was going to go to the store and buy an apple pie, but Joe and I went this direction instead.

Mushroom and green pepper.  It was good.

On Wednesday the 20th I decided to make some bread.  In Bible Study the day before some of us were talking about making bread, kneading bread, hand making bread vs. a bread machine.  So I got it into my head to do this.

Instead of making my usual Betty Crocker bread recipe, I went online and looked up "Amish bread recipes".  I found one that looked easy and it really was.  Here is the link to the recipe:  Amish White Bread Recipe (allrecipes.com).   I had everything I needed in the house except bread flour.  I just used regular white flour and it turned out fine.

I had chicken tenders and asparagus for dinner.  I wanted to have the bread too, but I didn't time it right and it wasn't done baking.  (The bread didn't rise even after an hour because it wasn't warm in the kitchen. I ended up putting the dough in a slightly warm oven to rise and that set me back.)  It looked SO GOOD when I took it out from baking.  The color was perfect and when I sliced it, the slice looked perfect too.  And the taste!  It was not like any bread I have ever made.  There is sugar in it and it is a sweet bread (sort of like Hawaiian rolls if you have those near you).  I am definitely making it again.  Three hours start to finish.

Sorry I don't have a picture for you, but it didn't last very long.  There's a picture in the recipe, though, and that's exactly what it looked like.

That bread didn't last long.  I am making another loaf today or tomorrow.  Joe said it was the best bread I have ever made.

Well, this month has not ended well.  My best friend Debbie was diagnosed with brain, lung and liver cancer.  After a week in the hospital, she came home yesterday.  Her entire life has changed and there are big adjustments to be made.  I will help her as much as I can, but I am taking care of Joe and his ongoing illnesses as well as trying to be good to myself.  I have not had an afib event in almost a year and now I am having a lot of them.  I think because I am so stressed.  I try to calm myself down because if I am in the hospital I am not doing anyone any good (including myself).  But it is hard.

I took Joe to the VA Hospital the other day and used my new walker (or rollator?  It has wheels.) to get around.  It was easier than the cane for sure.  It also has a seat which was very helpful.  But a lot of places do not accommodate a large walker.  So I am still using the cane also.  Good to have a choice though.

I am going to post this today (the 27th) and give you another post for Easter.  This has worked out so well for me.  If I want to post, I do.  But I have a running post for the month that I can write a few sentences.  I'm going to continue on like this for the next few months and see what happens.

Thanks for sticking with me.  I will be back later this week.

Kathy

RUNNING AROUND

I got a phone call early this morning.  It was just after 7:00 and it was my friend, Kathy.  She was to have a colonoscopy and I had just been praying for her.  It turns out that she was able to get to the hospital but didn't have a ride home.  After doing the cleanse the day before she didn't want to just get a cab and go home.  I don't blame her one bit!  She asked if I could come and get her after the test.  Of course, I said yes, although a bit hesitantly.  I didn't know how to get to the hospital.  Or even where it was.  But...

My friend Debbie had had her cancer treatments there.  I called her and asked her to go with me when it was time and she agreed.  So off we went.  But...

I was doing OK until we were almost there, made a wrong turn, and got lost.  Very lost.  I pulled over and got the Waze (GPS) running.  We went around and around blocks and finally (FINALLY) ended up at the right spot to pick her up.

After dropping Kathy off, Debbie and I went to the post office and then to Wendy's where I bought lunch for her, Joe and myself.  I dropped Debbie off and went home.

After lunch I took a nap.  A nice long nap.  I'm getting too old for this!  But I was glad to help a friend.  And glad to get help from a friend.  We are all in this life together.

See you later.

Kathy

OK, I CAN'T DO THIS COLD TURKEY

Yesterday after I posted about taking a break, I had second thoughts.  I have had this blog for over 13 years and just stopping is more than my little mind can comprehend.  So for now, I am still being good to me, but I will blog once a month.  Unless there is some terribly important and interesting news.  So look for me around the end of the month and I'll be back.  Once a month sounds good, doesn't it?

Kathy

I'M TAKING A BREAK

 Hello, friends.  I just wanted to let you know that I am taking a break from blogging.  I don't know if I will be back or not.  The way my life has been going lately blogging is more of a burden than a pleasure.

Please don't worry about me.  Joe and I are fine.  Just too much going on to keep up.  I may come back because I have enjoyed it so much.  But not right now.

I will still keep up with my YouTube so you can catch up with me there.  It's Kathy's Happy Home.

Thanks for understanding.

Kathy

INFUSION DAY

 Hello, friends!  Hope you are having a wonderful day.  I love this cute little picture of Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  Enjoy the cold while you can.  Spring is almost here.  Yay!

Yesterday I went to the cancer center to meet my new doctor and to get an infusion that I get once a year.  It is to protect my bones.  I didn't want to go alone, so I took Joe with me.  I was really nervous about meeting with the doctor.  I've had some things wrong with me and I was sure he was going to say there was something majorly wrong with me.  I was shaking when I went in.

I had to go to the blood lab first and give a donation.  Ha, ha!  The tech found a good vein immediately, so it was quick and easy.  Then on to the cancer center next door,  I checked in and it wasn't any time at all until I was taken back.  I saw a lot of nurses and techs that I hadn't seen in a long time.  I had taught in the morning, so went in the afternoon to the Cancer Center this time.  There were almost no patients there.

The nurse took my vitals and then I got to meet the doctor.  I had seen him for years in the Center but had never met him.  He was not at all what I expected.  He was so nice and kind and listened to what I said.  And what Joe said.  I was so nervous that when he asked me a question, I would forget what I should be answering!  When he was done, I went to the infusion suite for my treatment.  And I found out that I was getting Zometa.  They had called it by another name (Reclast) but I didn't know that that was what I was getting.  No wonder I feel nauseous afterwards.  Zometa always did that to me in the past.

The nurse was nice, but she was brutal with getting that needle into my hand,  It hurt so much!  Even when I told her it was hurting me, she just kept pushing it in.  But she got it in the first time and once it was there, I didn't feel it at all.  It's a 20 minute drip and once it was all over, we were on our way.

Bob Evans restaurant is in the same complex.  I had told Joe about it, but we had never been there.  Well, I had been there before, but he hadn't.  So we went there for dinner.  Neither of us had eaten much that day.  Joe had chicken fried steak and I had chicken fingers with honey mustard sauce.  Everything was good, but I think I like their breakfast better than their dinner.

On the way home we stopped at a few places to run some errands.  I picked up some cute gnome garden stakes that spell out the word "LOVE".  They are adorable.  It is only 30*F (-1*C) right now, so I may wait another day to get them into the yard.  It's supposed to get warmer tomorrow.  I know just how I want to do my yard to make it really cute for Valentine's Day.  And I will definitely show it to you once I have it the way I want.  I also got two pillow cases for the sofa.  They are cream with pink and red hearts all over them.  I'll show you that too.  They are really pretty.

I need to get off of here and start my day.  Thank you everyone for the prayers and good wishes you sent my way for the infusion.  I really appreciate it.  And for those of you who are waiting for another video from me on YouTube, it's coming.  I just haven't had a minute to sit down and film one!  But this week for sure.

See you all soon.

Kathhy

THE CONCLUSION OF THE FURNITURE ADVENTURE

 

Hello, friends!  Hope all is well with you and your family today.  It is early, but we are going to Cape May Court House for church today and have to leave early.  It takes 2 hours or so to get there and the service starts at 10:30 a.m.  Joe has wanted to get there for two months now and every Sunday it either rains or snows.  Today is supposed to be sunny and warm so today is the day.

But let me tell you the end of the living room furniture saga.

When last we left off, the box with the sofa had left the building and I had stopped crying and felt better.  But now we had to deal with the rest of the problem.  Joe took the mattress upstairs and put it onto the bed as I told you.  Now the old chair was empty, and we had to get it out of the house.  But how to get it out.

We moved things out of the way, and Joe tried to take it apart to no avail.  I was sitting on the sofa because he didn't want me to help.  I had had an afib attack the night before.  I did too much.  So boxes and bags were piled around me and the little end table was on top of me!  I couldn't move.  Joe opened out the recliner which made it thinner, put it on its side, and pulled it out the door.  I don't know how he did it.  He then dragged it across the street to the Veterans building and put it on the sidewalk.  When he came back, he opened the box that the new chair was in and began unpacking it.  Uh, Joe.  Joe, I'm still underneath the furniture and boxes.  It's getting heavy.

He looked over at me and went, "Oh!" and began unloading things from me.  "Sorry."

He took everything out of the box and looked at the directions.  He began trying to put it together, but with his tremors, he couldn't get his hands to work with the tiny parts.  So he called his friend, Lenny, who said he could come over the next day and help him.  For that night he put the seat of the chair on the floor and laid the back on top of it,  It was so pretty, though.  I love the upholstery.

George discovered the chair and immediately claimed it.  He hasn't been scratching at it (much) but loves to lay in it.  In fact, he's lying in it sleeping now.

As promised, Lenny came over the next day.  It took about an hour for the two of them to put the chair together and put it into place.  It is so pretty!

Here's the old chair (ignore all the mess around it.  There was mess for quite awhile):

And here is the new one. (Jack loves the new chair too):

It is very comfortable to sit on.  But there is one problem.  It is so deep that when I sit back, my feet stick out like a little child's.  Oh, the problems of being short.  As we continue to clean out the room, we are planning to buy another one so that we each have a chair.  We have so many plans and I hope they all come to pass.

That is where we are now.  Still cleaning.  Still going through tons of papers, books, etc.  It will get done, but I have to do it slowly because I do not want another attack.

And now to get myself together for church.  I hope you all have a great day.  Thanks for joining me on this furniture journey and I hope you enjoyed it.  I'm sure there's lots more coming this month.  Especially as things continue to go out of the house.

Until later...

Kathy

THE ADVENTURE OF THE LIVING ROOM FURNITURE

 Hello, friends!  Welcome back to another installment in the redoing of Kathy's house.  When last we left off, we had just put in a new mattress and box spring.  And let me tell you, they are very comfortable.  But we had other furniture we needed to replace.  The worst being the recliner in the living room.

We bought the recliner second hand for $50 back in 2008.  It has certainly done its duty and owes us nothing.  The cats liked to claw it too.

So Joe and I looked through the chairs from Walmart and found one we really liked and could afford.  In fact, I decided to give it to him for Valentine's Day.  I never know what to get him and since this is where Joe usually sits, it was the perfect gift.  We ordered it and were told it would be delivered on Friday afternoon.  This was perfect because our trash day is Friday, and we could put the old chair out in the morning.

Joe also looked at sofas, but we decided to wait to order one of those.

Early Thursday morning there was a knock at the front door.  We were still asleep, and it woke us up.  I went to the door and a FedEx driver was there with a big box.  It was the chair.  A day early.  And there was nowhere to put it.  He slid the box in the door and told me he had another box for us too.  I yelled for Joe, and he came downstairs.  The other box was a sofa.  A sofa we were looking at but didn't order.  These boxes were so large that we couldn't even close the front door.  (You can see part of the chair box next to the brown chair above.)

We finally rearranged things and shut the door.  But then we couldn't open the door to use it.  What a mess!  I admit that I started crying.  It was such a bad situation.  Later that afternoon we figured out to stand the sofa on its end next to the coffee table, remove the table by the front door and put the chair box there.  The mattress box was in the old chair and Joe and I sat squeezed together on the little bit of the sofa that we could sit on.  No wonder Joe went to bed early.

Things remained like that for three days while Joe argued with Walmart about taking the sofa back.  Not only did they deliver it because Joe accidentally ordered it, but they also sent the wrong one.  At first, we agreed to a reduction in the price and were going to keep it.  But then discovered it wasn't even the one we were looking at but another one with leather upholstery and a foot longer than the space we had for it.  Can you imagine what the cats would do with leather?

Finally, we worked things out and Walmart agreed to let us return it.  They sent Joe a return label which we printed out.  They were going to pick it up on Monday between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.  We put it out on the sidewalk at 8 a.m.  And what a time that was to get it out the door!  But it was there, and the room looked so roomy without that gigantic box.

It sat on the sidewalk all day.  Our neighbors are having work done on their house and one of the workers knocked on the door to tell us we had a delivery and ask if we needed help getting it into the house.  The mailman also knocked and asked if we wanted him to help us get it inside.  So nice of these people but NO.

Finally, at 4 p.m. the FedEx man showed up.  He scanned the box then leaned over, picked it up, put it on his shoulder, and carried it to the truck.  That weighed over 100 lbs.!  Wow!  Joe ran to the door and asked if he needed help, but he said no.  Remind me to keep that driver on my side.

And that is where I am going to end today.  Come back next time for the conclusion of our story.  Yes, there's more to come.

In the meantime, Happy Groundhog Day.  Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow and so we will have an early Spring.  Yes!  Let's have an early spring.

See you next time.

Kathy

THE ADVENTURE OF THE NEW MATTRESS

 

Hello friends and welcome to February.  Didn't January feel like a long month?  Everyone I know says so.  Even the news programs.  But in any case, it is a new month and time is moving on.  This month is going to be busy.  Lots of doctor appointments and unfortunately an infusion for me in the next week or so.  I am always sick to my stomach for a few days after that.  I get this infusion because the cancer medication I received years ago has made my bones brittle and the drug I am getting offsets this.  It is only once a year, so I can't complain too much.  I remember going once a week for a year so once a year is nothing.

Joe and I are redoing our house.  Well, we are beginning anyway.  It is going to be a long process.  We started by getting a new boxspring and mattress for our bed.  The boxspring has been broken for quite a while but it finally collapsed, and Joe was literally sleeping on the floor while I had to hold onto the side of the bed to keep from falling into the hole.  Time for a new one.

We had quite a time getting the boxspring up the stairs.  Our stairs turn and getting it around the corner was tough.  It was so heavy too.  But we did it.  We had to cut the box off of the boxspring which was another feat.  It took over an hour to do this.  And getting it onto the bedframe was another matter.  

Then we had to put on the mattress.  Actually, we waited until the next day to do this, putting the old mattress on for that night.  It was hard work, and we were bushed!  We aren't as young as we once were.

We were able to put the boxspring and mattress against the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Society building across the street.  Joe is the Chaplain there.  One of his buddies came with his truck and picked them up the next day.  He took them to the dump for us so that we didn't have to wait until trash day to get rid of them.

What Joe figured out to do was to first bring down the old boxspring.  Not as hard going down the steps as going up!  I held all the doors open for him, helped him get it around the corners, etc.  Then he dragged it across the street.  Next was taking the old mattress off of the bed, putting it in a plastic bag, and sliding it down the stairs.  That was harder to do.  The box spring folded in half, but the mattress didn't.  What a time!  But Joe got that across the street also.

Next was getting the new mattress upstairs.  We opened the box, took out the mattress which was wrapped in LOTS of plastic and Joe literally "walked" the mattress upstairs.  He would put it on the step in front of him, go up one step himself, then put the mattress up to the next step.  When he got to the bedroom, he left it in the doorway and took a rest.  I offered to help him, but since my heart was misbehaving, he didn't want me to put extra stress on myself.  I had been doing too much.  After dinner he was able to get the mattress onto the bed.

Quite a time we had, but what a difference in our sleep.  So comfy.  It was time we did this.

You might think this was something, but there is so much more to tell.  That will be for the next post.

Happy February everyone.  Have a wonderful day and I will talk to you soon.

Kathy

HOW MUCH FOOD CAN ONE FAMILY EAT?

 Hello, friends!  First of all, I want to thank all of you for your kind words.  I know I shouldn't let negative people bother me, but I'm human and it does.  But having all of you behind me helps so much.  I'm so grateful and happy that you like my blog (and YouTube) so much.  I am just an ordinary person living an ordinary life in an ordinary part of this wonderful country.  I know that everyone is the same and at the same time different in all the world.  That really blows my mind sometimes.

When I was in college, my history professor went around the room asking each of us why we wanted to major in history.  Different ones said different things of course.  I said because I wanted to learn about people.  All people.  In different times and places.  How they lived.  What they thought.  Who they loved.  Who they hated.  What they wore.  Why?  I love people and wanted to know everything about them.  He told me that I was in the wrong class, that I should be a sociologist!

At any rate, yesterday was a busy day.  It began with me being woken up by a knock at the door.  It was a delivery from Walmart.  Joe had wanted soup and ordered some online.  Lots of soup.  I am not a soup person, but one of them, the chicken pot pie soup, looks interesting.  I may open a can and have it for lunch today.

Then at 9:00 a.m. I had to run to Shoprite to pick up my order.  It is getting harder and harder for me to walk through stores, so I order online and go pick it up.  The girl who checked me out asked if I needed help with getting it into the car and I said no.  But when I got to the car, I found out just how heavy it was.  Next time I'm going to say yes.

When I got home, I filmed it all before I put it away.  I have been looking for something to put up on YouTube and this was perfect.  If you head over to my channel, you can see my entire three orders.  (I went to Lidl the other day and included that too.)

I'm continuing on with my kitchen declutter.  I cancelled Crystal coming over yesterday and made it for Friday.  It is just too much for me.  I think I will make it for Monday and Friday from now on.  I just can't make myself sick in order to get the house under control.  I am making great progress.  Who knew that you could collect so much "junk" in 40 years of living in one place?

Well, I am going to get off of here and get some breakfast.  I was up very late last night.  Joe and I were talking until about 2 a.m.!  But it was a good talk about things we needed to make some decisions on.  I don't have anything planned for today.  The first day all week with nothing going on.  So I needed to sleep in anyway.

See you all soon.

Kathy

WHAT'S HAPPENING

Hello, friends.  Well, obviously I did not make it to posting every day in January.  But I'm back.  I just get tired of people criticizing what I write.  It gets old really fast.  (You don't see the comments because I delete them.  But I see them.)

By the way, for those who suggested I have a charger in the car for my phone, I do have one.  It works too.  But when the phone uses power faster than it charges...  well...  Most of the time it is fine.  But using the GPS takes TONS of power and the charger can't keep up.  Even if the phone is fully charged when I begin, if it is a long ride it isn't enough.  Joe and I often use both of our phones one after the other if it will take awhile.  (One phone charges while the other is used.)  But he wasn't with me.  In any case, I got to Larry's just fine and we had a really good time together.

So on Sunday I had to run some errands after church.  Then Joe and I decided to go out for lunch.  We went to Yamato's.  I've been wanting to go there for awhile.  As usual, everything was so good!  Joe had the beef hibachi and I had vegetable tempura.  I can't tell you how delicious it was.  As we were eating Joe said, "I love this place."  And I do too.

Monday we went to Lidl to get some groceries.  Another store that we like but don't get there often.  I found a beautiful eggplant and even though it wasn't on the shopping list, it found its way into the cart.  We also got poppy seed bread, chocolate brioche from France, a delicious apple turnover, chocolate chip croissants, eggs (the cheapest place to buy eggs), sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and a beautiful package of salmon.

Crystal came over on Monday morning and we tackled the kitchen.  So much stuff we put together for Salvation Army.  Threw a lot of stuff out.  Picked things up and put them away.  Still a way to go, but things look so much better.  Found a lot of stuff too.  She is coming back today and we are going to do the pantry and the counters.  I might start on the pantry before she comes.

I have to be careful, though, because Monday night I was in a lot of pain.  I took some pain killers and went to sleep.  I didn't even eat dinner.  But I felt so much better when I woke up.  I almost never take anything for my pain, but this was so bad I was in tears.  So today I will not push myself so hard.  I need to be good to me.

Yesterday I taught Bible Study.  We are in Matthew 12.  I really wasn't as prepared as I wanted to be.  I am at a part that I find really difficult to explain to someone else.  I understand it, but it is hard.  I think it went OK though.

And of course after I got home we were hit with that horrible storm that has come across the entire country.  So much rain and such high winds.  I haven't looked into the back yard yet.  I'm almost afraid to see what has blown around out there.

But now I think I will get myself up even though it isn't even 6:00 a.m.  I will have a nice leisurely breakfast.  Hope you all have a great day.  See you soon.

Kathy

 

WE GOT SNOW

 

Hello, friends!  Yes, after two years of nothing, we got snow today.  At least not as much as Snoopy seems to have here.  Thank God for that.  

I went to see my brother Larry today.  We weren't able to get together for Christmas and I still had his gifts.  Joe isn't feeling well, so I went by myself.  I haven't been there all that often, so I use the GPS on my phone for directions.  I knew I didn't have a lot of power, but was doing well until I wasn't.  My phone completely died as I came off the highway.  I didn't know how to get to Larry's house.  Turn right?  Turn left?  Straight ahead?  I went straight and pulled into a parking lot.  I thought, I'll just call him and ask for directions.  Duh...  My phone was dead.  

I looked in the glove compartment and I had my old GPS in there.  I plugged it in and entered Larry's address.  But it kept wanting to send me to New Jersey.  NO!  Finally I found where I could tell it I wanted Pennsylvania and then it gave me directions.  I was about 10 minutes from his house, but I would never have found it.

When I pulled up, Larry came out and said, "Look over there.  There are deer."  Sure enough, there were two deer in his neighbor's yard.  I took a picture of it.  This was as close as my camera would take it.  Not much of a zoom lens on it.

But here is Larry's picture which is much better.

"
We opened gifts first.  Larry loved everything.  He had already given Joe and me our Christmas gift.  He got us a year of Britbox for the TV.  But for my birthday he gave me a cookbook.  I love it.  The title is "Amish Christmas Cookbook: Authentic Favorites from Three Generations of Amish Cooks".  The recipes look great.  I'm going to use some for my YouTube channel since everyone seems to like my cooking videos.  Funny enough, I gave Larry a cookbook for his birthday.  I got him "Tasting History" by Max Miller.  Max Miller has a YouTube channel that I watch every Tuesday.  He tells about history and cooks a recipe from that time.

Larry and I went to Collegeville Diner for lunch.  He had a cheeseburger and potato chips and I had breakfast -- poached egg, two links of sausage, hash browns and toast.  Everything was really good.  But so much!  I couldn't finish it all.  But I made a really big dent.

Larry paid for lunch and then we went over to look at the bakery.  There were all kinds of cookies, cupcakes and small cakes.  I pointed out the cookies with eyes looking at us.  Larry liked the rat cakes.  He took a picture of them and sent it to me.  They may look gross, but I'll bet they tasted delicious.

 I hung around for about an hour after we got back.  Larry charged my phone for me so I could use it to get home.  The snow was coming down pretty fast, so I decided to leave before it got too bad.  The streets and sidewalks were already covered.

It took me over an hour to get home.  Everyone was driving slowly, but that was OK with me.  The closer I got to Philadelphia, the less snow there was.  By the time I got home, it was all rain.  That was a relief.  I didn't have to shovel.

And now I have to get off of here and get something to eat.  I hope you all have a great night and I will see you tomorrow.

NOT MUCH GOING ON

 Today was a really mixed up day.  I was all at odds.  Mostly because I woke up, took my first dose of medicine, did a few morning things, and then fell asleep again and didn't wake up until almost 10:00 a.m.!  I jumped out of bed and started to get myself ready for the day.  I was expecting Crystal to come over between 10:00 and 10:30.  But when she didn't show up, I called her.  It turns out she was expecting us to call her and OK her coming.  We thought she was just going to come.  So now it is set for Monday morning for her to come.

I did get one table and the floor around it cleaned off.  Every little thing helps.  Right now I am concentrating on getting the living room cleaned up because that is what you see first when you open the front door.  Although I am thinking of doing the kitchen next week.  I hate the kitchen right now.  I want to change the counter space, get the floor all picked up, get rid of excess plates, cups, etc.  I do love dishes and end up buying all kinds of things because I like them.  Now I have no room!  So maybe we will move out there next week.

But enough of that.  Getting my house under control this year is my New Year's Resolution and I am doing my best to keep it.

I bought a new pair of shoes from Amazon today.  Well I bought them the other day and they were delivered today.  I needed a black pair of shoes.  My old ones are a mess.  The new ones are so comfortable and look so nice.  I am hard on shoes and they don't last very long so I don't usually buy expensive shoes.  I did buy $60 shoes once and they didn't last any longer than my $20 shoes did.  So...

Now I am going to end and get dinner ready.  I have a spaghetti squash that I want to use.  I'm trying to use up all my veggies before they go bad.  So many times I forget what I have and find it ... uh... later.

Trying to blog every day in January and so far, so good.  See you later.

FOUR DAYS IN A ROW

 

Hello, friends.  I am writing to you again.  Four days in a row!  Let's see how long I can keep this up.  I know I have been ignoring this blog for quite awhile.  And while I do enjoy doing YouTube videos, I also enjoy writing.

So how are all of you?  I hope you are doing well in this new year.

Yesterday Joe's cousin Crystal came over to help us clean up the house.  She is one of his younger cousins.  Young enough to be our kid.  And having the young energy around was really great.  She looked around the house, saw how bad it has gotten and instead of judging us, said, "We can do this!"  So encouraging!  We worked picking things up (well she did since I can't bend over without passing out) and going through things for two hours.  We got an entire recycling can full and a trash bag out of the living room.  We recycle way more than we throw out.  When I worked for the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, I became very recycling conscious.  She is going to come back a couple of times a week until we have the house cleaned out.  For the first time in a very long time I am hopeful of getting things under control and my spirits are much higher than they have been in a long time.

For Christmas my sister gave me a box of twelve really cute nailpolishes.  They are very small bottles and are great colors.  One color for each month of the year!  I chose the sparkly gold color for January.  It looks great.  I wanted to take a picture of it to show you but...  I can't find my new camera.  

Well, things are so upset from trying to declutter that I can't find much at the moment.  It is going to be a decluttering marathon for several months.  But it will be so much better when we are done.  Then I can clean.

Today Joe wants to run to the Christian bookstore to see about getting a Bible imprinted.  I don't know if that will happen because he is really tired from not being able to sleep last night.  He finally went to bed around 4:30 a.m. after being up and down all night.  He went to bed a decent time, but just couldn't sleep.  He does, however, have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, so he has to be up for that.

And then there's the storm coming.  The last I heard was we were going to get mostly rain with maybe a little snow.  But where my sister lives, they are expecting a lot of snow.  Please pray for her because she works a long way from home and has quite a drive in her commute.  Plus she has to shovel out her driveway when she gets home before she can park.

Thank you for all your comments and encouragement as I get back into blogging.  You guys mean so much to me.  I feel as if you are my family.  Thanks for sticking with me.  Last year was hard for me.  This year seems much better.

Until later...

TRYING TO KEEP UP WITH THE YEAR

 

Hello, friends!  Hope you are doing well today.  After not writing for a long time, I now find myself posting every day.  This probably won't last for a long time, but here we are for now.  It is 7:15 a.m. and the sun is just coming up.  The sky is all blue and pink and so pretty.  

I tried to take a picture of this beautiful sky but my new camera is not good with scenery shots.  It came out all gray.  I don't know if I just am not getting how to use it, or if it just is not a good camera for those kind of shots.  In any case, I have bought another camera.  It will be here by the end of the week.  It is a Kodak digital and very like the one I lost (and hopefully will still find).  The Minolta is a great vlogging camera and I will use it for that, but I also need a camera for scenery and distance shots.  Besides, I feel better having two cameras.  One that I plug in is fine, but for going away I want a smaller camera with batteries.  That way I can have two or three batteries with me in case I am somewhere and the power runs out.  With the Minolta, I would have to find somewhere to plug it in and wait an hour.

In any case, I thought I would show you one photo today.  Everyone knows about my Peep addiction.  So Joe and Elaine supplied me with Christmas Peeps.  (They are all gone.  After all, I did have over a week to eat them!)

Snowmen (2 packages), Christmas trees (2 packages), Stockings, and a Peeps Vanilla Cream pop (4 Peeps chicks on a stick).  Yum!

Now I have to wait until Valentine's Day for more Peeps.  It's a good thing they don't sell them year round or I would weigh a ton!

Today Joe's cousin, Crystal, is coming over to help me clean up the house.  I sometimes almost pass out when I lean over to get things off of the floor.  Darn this a-fib.  She is much younger than I am and is going to help me with stuff I can't do anymore.  Growing old is not for the faint of heart.

It is getting late.  Crystal will be here in 2 1/2 hours.  I have to get showered, dressed, feed the cats and eat before she gets here.  I want to run a load of wash and get the dishes done too.  So I am off of here.  Have a wonderful day everyone!

Kathy

2024 DAY TWO

 It is already evening of the second day of this new year.  But it doesn't seem like a new year to me.  It just seems like another day in another month.  Usually the new year is fresh and exciting to me, but for some reason not this year.  Are any of you feeling that way?  Maybe it is me.  Maybe I am strange.

We are expecting a big snow storm this weekend.  It will be the first snow we have had in over 700 days.  Literally two years.  I do not like snow.  It is pretty to look at, but that is about it.  I hope that whatever we get does not last long.  With my bad knees I am hesitant to leave the house when snow is on the ground.  And I don't like driving in it either.

Today I tried to clean up a bit, but didn't get a lot accomplished.  I am still trying though.  A bit here and a bit there and it begins to look better.  Actually, doing my YouTube channel helps because I see things in the video that I don't notice in real life.  I saw that my fridge needed a bit of help (fingerprints and such) so I got that taken care of today.  After dinner I will hopefully do a bit more picking up.  No matter how much I do, there is always more to do.

Since we did not have our pork dinner last night, we are having it tonight.  I am roasting it now and it smells wonderful.  I have fresh Brussels sprouts which I am going to have too.  I was going to have potatoes, but instead I am going to make some garlic bread.  Something a little different.

Sunday I was looking for something to read at breakfast (I usually have a book with me at the table since I eat breakfast alone).  I went to my bookcase and started pulling books out to see what I had.  I found a Debbie Macomber book that I had never read.  It is called "Dashing Through the Snow."  I like Debbie Macomber, so I began reading it.  I am already through chapter 6.  I am limiting myself to two chapters a day to make it last.  It is not the same as a lot of her other books and I am intrigued.  I will let you know about it when I finish.

But now I really smell the pork roast, so I have to go out and take care of it.  Talk to you all again soon.

Kathy

WELCOME 2024

Hello, friends.  And Happy New Year!  It is still pretty early in the day and everyone is asleep I think.  The streets are empty.  Me?  I tried to stay up, but fell asleep.  I woke up with Joe saying, "Happy New Year," but went right back to sleep.

We had a very quiet celebration ourselves.  Joe had never seen the movie "Citizen Kane" and I told him that he had to see the best movie ever made.  So we rented it from Amazon.  My sister had given me a gift certificate for my birthday so I paid for it with that.  But even if I did have to pay for it, it only cost $3.99.  Much cheaper than if we had gone to the movies.

Joe had bought a cheese and sausage package and so we had crackers, cheese, summer sausage and mixed nuts.  So good.

And that's about it.  Not much going on at all.  I need to get up and get going.  Feed the cats.  Get my shower, etc.  Don't know what I am going to have for breakfast but I'm sure I'll find something.  I do want to see at least the string bands in the Mummers Parade, but I think I'll watch some of the Rose Parade also.

Hope you all had a great New Year's Eve and that 2024 is a wonderful year for you.