WHAT I'M READING -- MARY'S BUGGY RIDE (2020/3)

Hello, friends.  Welcome to Wednesday.  Another week is halfway over and the time continues to fly by.  Are you all as hot as I am?  It has been sizzling here.  And that's the word our weather people are using.  It will be warm for a few more days.  But this afternoon we are predicted to have heavy showers so I am sure that will cool it off a bit.

On Monday Joe had to go to Lowes and while we were there I bought two tomato plants and three marigolds.  There were no carts so that is all I could carry.  And with my arms full, I couldn't use my cane.  So I was hurting a lot by the time I got to the check out.  I went to the car and waited there for Joe.  When we got home, Joe saw one of our neighbor's car lights were on.  So he went to the house to tell him.  I got things out to take them into the house and ended up dropping the plants and breaking one of the tomatoes and one of the marigolds.  I babied them by taping them together with washi tape, but I don't know if they will make it.  I'm going to try, though.  I have to get out and plant them today before the rain.  So that's what's going on with me.  Now let me tell you about the latest book.

MARY'S BUGGY (A FAIRFIELD AMISH ROMANCE #4) by Elanor Miller (2015)

Here is Amazon's summary of the book:
Mary has struggled with failed relationships and worries that she will never find the one God has planned for her.  When she finds herself in unexpected trouble, she has no one to turn to until God sends an unlikely hero.

Teddy finds himself alone with an uncertain future.  With nowhere else to turn, he becomes a caretaker for an Amish widower.

With the help of new-found friends, anything is possible, even love.  And it all starts with a buggy ride.

This book is a sweet, clean, Amish romance novella.  It is a complete story, but it is also part of the Fairfield Amish Romance series.  Be sure to read them all, in any order!

This was a free book that Amazon offers for the Kindle every now and then to get you to order others.  Free is always attractive to me.  And so are the Amish books.  So I ordered it even though I had never heard of the author.  I have had it for quite awhile, but just now got around to reading it.  I was disappointed in it.  So predictable.  Not much of a plot.  Yes, it was a sweet, clean, Amish romance but I knew from the middle of the first chapter what was going to happen.  And it did.  Also, I thought the way the two of them got together would never happen in real life.  It just wasn't plausible.  So even though it was a decent story, I'm glad I didn't spend any money on it.

You will be surprised with the next book I read because it was by the same author.  I'll tell you about that next week.

Hope you all have a great day.  My plans are to work some in the yard and clean the house.  The two never ending jobs I have.  See you all soon.

Kathy

MONDAY MAGAZINE

Hello, friends!  It looks as if Snoopy got up on the wrong side of the bed ... er.... nest.  Or maybe he's just hiding from Charlie Brown.  In any case, I hope you are having a good Monday.

I went to church for the second time yesterday.  We met outside again.  I really like it, but most people don't.  I don't get outside nearly enough, and being able to sit in God's nature and worship Him brings me so much closer than sitting in a building.  But in a couple of weeks we will be moving back inside.  I took a photo of some of the people there to put on our facebook page.  Some people wore masks and some didn't. We actually moved the chairs into the shade under a tree because it was so hot in the sun.

I finished the magazine I am going to tell you  about six weeks ago and never got a chance to write a post about it, so I thought today would be a good time to do it.  This is an "allrecipes" from February/March 2018.  It is another magazine I will keep because of the good recipes in it.

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They had a "Hall of Fame" from their first 20 years of publication.  This recipe was for the "Best Steak Marinade in Existence".  It sounds wonderful and the next time I get a steak I am going to try it.  It has olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, basil, garlic, black pepper, red pepper flakes and butter.

I also want to try this recipe for "Easy French Toast Casserole".  It looks so good.

And this "Buttery Cinnamon Cake" looks wonderful!  I am definitely trying this one.

Even though it says this is a winter salad, the "Winter Fruit Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing" sounds like something I would eat all year round.  It has romaine lettuce, apples, pears, cashews and cranberries.  Yum!

Joe loves Wendy's Chili.  Here's a recipe for a copycat version.

Another recipe in the copycat section was for Starbucks' Lemon Bread.  Oh does this sound good!

There are tons more good recipes in this magazine so you can understand why I am keeping it!

I have gained so much weight in the past two months.  I really have to go back on my good eating plan.  More of the salad and less of the cakes, I think.  Last night we had poached salmon, mashed potatoes and asparagus.  It was good!  I don't know what I will have tonight, but it will be quick and easy.  It is so hot here that I don't feel like cooking much.  When I go food shopping tomorrow, I think I will get the items to make that apple and pear salad.

And now I will get on with my day.  I am trying to clean out my house and clean up my yard.  It is a lot of work that is going to take many weeks.  Once finished, I hope I can maintain it.  It's so hard to clean up but so easy to mess up.  Ha, ha!  So I will talk to you all later.  Have a good day, everyone!

Kathy

GROCERY HAUL

Hello, friends!  It is so hot here in Philly.  We need a new air conditioner and I am working hard to clean up the area by the front window so that we can put one in.  Almost there.

How do you all like the new blogger?  I saw nothing wrong with the old one and I'm not liking it so much.  But I'm sure I will get used to it over time.

I thought today I would show you the grocery haul I got last week.  I wanted to wait, but needed too many things.  This week I went for several items and found they were missing.  It turns out I didn't check my "shop from home" order carefully and there were things they didn't give to me.  *sigh*  But here's what I did get from my shop from home order.

I got a box of eggs.  Desperately needed.

I was running low on baking mix.  I wanted Jiffy, but that wasn't in the computer, so I got Bisquick.  It's the same thing.  I also got a box of Apple Cinnamon muffin mix and Blueberry muffin mix.  I already made (and we ate) the blueberry one.  I also got some crackers and some Command strips to hang up our new smoke detectors.  I use Command strips a lot.

I needed olive oil and had been out of cooking spray for awhile and was very happy to get a new can.  I was making tacos for the first time and decided to top them with salsa.  This was on sale.  I never used Pace brand before, but it was very good.  I also got the baby (otherwise known as Jack the cat) a bag of treats and I got a bag of flaked coconut to make a coconut custard pie.

I wanted ground beef for the tacos and got meatloaf mix too.

I got two Chobani flips -- peanut butter cup.  It's my new favorite.  I also got shredded cheddar cheese, margarine, lactose free cheese and salmon.

Lactose free milk, romaine lettuce and eggplant.  I had been wanting eggplant for awhile and had it the other night.  So good.  I thought I ordered tomatoes to go with the lettuce.  No, I DID order tomatoes, but they weren't there.  I didn't know or I would have gotten them when we went to the other Shoprite.

I don't know why this picture won't turn around.  I turned it three times and it still came out sideways.  But you can see it.  I got frozen French fries, sausage, and meatballs.

And four honeycrisp apples and four bananas.

Since we were unable to get water with our order, Joe and I headed for the other Shoprite that we usually go to.  We were just going to get water, but ended up getting some other things too.

I found a new kind of cat food that I wanted to try with Jack.  He loved it.  I got hot dog rolls, and a new lighter.  Sometimes I need it for my stove.  I couldn't find my old one.  Of course the old one was the first thing I saw when I walked in the front door.  But it doesn't hurt to have two.

Here is another picture on its side.  But you can see I got mushrooms, hot dogs, American cheese, pepperoni, pepper ham and bologna.

Joe got cereal and chocolate donuts.

I got broccoli, asparagus and Joe wanted more bananas.

I got a can of pizza crust.  And I did make a pizza the other night.  We had pizza sauce here and I had the pepperoni and mushrooms to put on it.  I misread the directions and baked it wrong.  It turned out OK, but I am going to try it again baking it the right way.

I saw the barbecued chicken legs when I first walked into the store.  It was an unadvertised manager's special.  I thought they looked good and got them.  We had them the other night.  Joe had one and refused to eat more.  I have never seen him turn down food before.  I didn't like them either.  They were very hot.  I mean spicy hot.  And the meat was mostly fat and gristle.  I did finish the other two over two days for lunch but it is not something we will buy again.

And three cases of water.  We have finished one case and I am going to break open the second one tomorrow.

Tonight we called out for hoagies and got them just before curfew.  It was just too hot to cook.  The one deli we get them from makes them so very good.  And they are not too expensive.

So far the last two nights have been quiet around here.  I think it is because we have been having thunderstorms.  Always a deterrent.  I hope the worst of things is over.  Our 7-11 and Wawa have reopened although their windows are still boarded up.  Better safe than sorry.  What a world we are living in.

I'll end with a post I borrowed from facebook.  I think you will all agree.

Have a good night (or day if you are reading this in the morning).

Kathy