Sunshine and Sunsets Make Me Smile

Hello!  What a wonderful day we had yesterday with spring-like temperatures and warm sunshine.  The sun has been shining the last few days and ending with some beautiful sunsets.  I've been finding myself singing this song  🎶...sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy...🎵while I'm alone.  Wouldn't want to sing where anyone can hear me...even the kitties cover their ears when I'm singing.  ☺  

I'm still working on going through my stuff and want to get rid of that which I don't use, need or love.  Right now, I'm still working on the books.  Next up are the stacks of magazines that I thought I'd go through someday and cut out recipes and ideas.  "Someday" never seems to arrive, so I'm going to be brave and toss them out.  Yeah, right.  We'll see how that goes.  

The hardest thing for me is getting rid of those items I don't especially want but have somewhat of an emotional attachment to.  I've read that we need to remember that they are just objects, without souls or feelings.  I tend to feel like I'm tossing out part of myself or the one that gave me that object.  Silly, isn't it?   Do you keep things for purely sentimental reasons that you no longer need or will ever use?

I'm trying my best to stay away from the news, it's not good for my blood pressure.  So I need to keep myself busy, busy, busy.  Yesterday, I went to visit my neighbor who is in the hospital with a broken hip.  She is 80 or so and was bending to pick up the cap that fell from her milk carton.  Her foot slipped and down she went.  Her hip was broken in 2 places.  Fortunately, someone was there with her at the time.  She says she will go to an assisted living residence when she is released from the hospital.  I'm so sorry this happened to her, she just lost her husband a couple of years ago and I've noticed that seemed to take a toll on her health.

Back to the books...and I need to do some laundry.  I always hold on to the railing as a precaution when going down the steps.  A lot of the time I have to take them one at a time because of my ankle or my knee.  My next house is going to have a laundry on the main floor! 

Happy Tuesday to you!  Hope you have sunshine on your shoulders today...ours has darted back behind the clouds again as I've written this. 

xo Cheryl   

Wanted: Sunshine and Blue Skies

Aside from politics, the biggest topic around my town is the weather.  We have had endless gray, cloudy days but little precipitation.  Gray is so not my color.  As I was leaving the house Tuesday, I looked to the east and grabbed my camera when I saw a little bit of blue sky peeking through the clouds.  It actually turned off sunny for a few hours.  But we're back to dark and dreary again.  Now, I don't mind a few cloudy days.  In fact, when it's blazing hot and sunny for days on end in the summer, I long for a few cloudy days.  But this is getting to be too much!  Even BG commented on it being a bit depressing when he came home from work yesterday.  Oh well, we'll get through it.  January is almost over, can you believe it?  

I have started going through some books and weeding out those I've read and don't want to keep.  I'll take them to the upscale/resale shop where many of them were bought.  This might take longer than I thought, because I'll open a book to see if I remember reading it and get interested all over again and find myself reading to the very end.

I have started a new book that I will talk about in a future post.  It's a topic I'm interested in but I'm finding it a bit of a slow read, so I'm still just a few chapters into it.  I want to give it my undivided attention and my attention has been on the news lately.

Just have to say that the news these days leaves me shaking my head and wondering what in the world is wrong with people that think nothing of destroying property and hurting other people.  And then there are those crude women wearing stupid pink hats representing a v..... well, I can't bring myself to say it, it's just so asinine.  Gads.  These people have become completely unhinged and I worry for our country.  Our new president is off to a good start, in my opinion, but he certainly has his work cut out for him.  Frankly, I think we needed someone who was not entrenched in politics and beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists.  I know he is not a perfect man, but there are many biblical examples of God using imperfect, flawed people to carry out His plans.  I'm praying for his safety and that he will be the leader we need at this time in our history. 

As the chief cook and bottle washer, as they say, at my house food is always uppermost in my mind.  That is, what to cook and making sure that I have the pantry stocked with what I need.  I went with my daughter to CoMo one evening as she needed several things to stock the kitchen at her early learning center.  I also stocked up on some needed items.  It's amazing how 2 people can go through so many groceries.  BG takes his lunch most days so I have to keep lunch items on hand.  The kitties go through their food quickly, it seems.  And there are the bird feeders to keep filled.  So much food! 

After shopping, we treated ourselves to dinner at the Golden Corral.  I had a lot of veggies and fried fish.  Yum!  Okay, so I coated the broccoli and cauliflower with cheese and chose creamed spinach.  You only live once!  :)  By the way, their creamed spinach is sooo good.  What is your favorite veggie?

Our son came home over the weekend for a visit.  It's always good to have him around.  He and his dad watched both football games before he went back home to KC Sunday night.  He told me last night that Gates BBQ had reopened in Independence after a fire had destroyed their business a couple of years ago.  It was my fav BBQ place.  It was a crowded, noisy place but the food was worth it!  

While my daughter and I were in Como the other night, we swung by Hobby Lobby and she found this window/mirror for her kitchen wall.  The lighter frame is almost the same color as her walls.  She had been looking for an old window to put up with a pair of shutters that I have in my garage and intended to do something with some day...you have some of those "some days" too, don't you?...and she never found one in just the right size.   When she spotted this mirror/window, she knew this was just what she wanted.  It hasn't been hung up yet, but I'll try to get a photo when it is.  It's more fun to take photos of her house than mine these days.  Some changes are needed here.  I'd like to paint my walls, but I'm not sure I'm up to that right now.  That sounds like a spring time project...but I already have a list going for spring so we'll see. 

Hope your week is going well....happy Thursday to you!

xo Cheryl

The Ice Storm That Wasn't

I woke up to another dark, gloomy morning.  The sun has only made brief appearances in the last several days.  The only bright spots in the gray world outside my door are the cardinals looking for a spot at the feeder. 

We've had a little much needed rain, but the big ice storm that was predicted for last Friday through the weekend didn't happen...at least not in my county.  Schools and other businesses had announced that they were closing ahead of the predicted storm.  

I had gotten enough groceries to last the duration in case the power was out.  And then my daughter said I should come stay at her house because she has a fireplace and a gas heater in the basement that would keep us warm if the power indeed went out for any length of time.  Hubby stayed at home because we knew he would likely be called to work if said power outages occurred.

We stayed up late Friday night listening to the trucks going up and down the highway salting the roads.  The ice didn't make a showing.  The weatherman then said it would move in Saturday for sure.  We listened as the trucks kept up the salting...up and down the highway they went.  All for naught. 

Ditto Sunday.  It would surely arrive sometime Sunday, they said.  No, it didn't.  Churches had announced the day before that they were cancelling services.     

The squirrel, who is living in the tree beside her house, stuck his head out a few times and barked at us when we opened the door to look for the ice that we didn't get.

The trucks finally stopped making their rounds...hope they have enough salt left for the next storm!  Hubby had been stopping in for meals and would go back home to nap in anticipation of working long hours.  But Sunday, after a nice weekend visit with my daughter, I packed my overnight bag and went back home with him.

We only had a little glaze of ice one morning, but not enough to keep folks from getting out.  Kim and I had a good chuckle while watching the news and the weather girl was standing along a busy street in the Big Town while talking about the ice storm.  The cars were just whizzing up and down the highway behind her...a sure indication that the roads were quite clear.  It struck us as funny.  

We were quite happy that the predicted ice storm didn't pan out, but winter is a long way from being over.  Anything is possible.  Even 60 plus degrees that is expected this weekend!

What is happening in your part of the world?

xo Cheryl 

I'm As Ready As I Can Be

Stormy wanted to play today, but I was busy with laundry, vacuuming, and all the jobs that require electricity.  We are supposed to have an ice storm moving in.  And that means a possibility of the electric going out.   

Schools have already canceled Friday's classes including the University of Missouri campus.  My daughter cancelled at her early learning center and our son said he was working from home.  BG is a rural electric lineman so he will have to work until any loss of power is restored.  Did you know that just a quarter of an inch of ice adds an extra 500 pounds to a power line?  

I went to the grocery store Wednesday and stocked up on some essential items.  What?  Ice cream isn't essential?  Of course it is.  Especially if it's Rocky Road ice cream.  ☺  Brownies will be made before the ice arrives.  I have sandwich fixings and chips.  So, if the power goes out for a few days and I'm not able to cook, I won't get hungry. 

I must admit that ice makes me nervous for a number of reasons.  And being without electricity means no internet!  Oh, what will I do?  Well, I just happen to have a stack of unread books, so I'm set.  Now I'm off to gather up some candles and get the flashlights out.

Stay safe and warm...and have a nice weekend!

xo Cheryl

Just In Case

~this photo was taken in December, 2013~

Our dear weatherman is already forecasting ice for our area beginning on Friday.  I hope they are wrong, as they frequently are.  I know it's January and we can expect wintry weather, but ice is something I'm very afraid of since I broke my ankle so severely many years ago after falling on it.  

The trees in the photo above are covered in hoarfrost, but it looked icy to me when I was searching for a pic in my folders.  I haven't used my camera much lately.  It's been so bitterly cold that I didn't want to step outside.  A little warming trend ahead of the predicted ice has begun which we are happy to have.

Since it will be warmer for a few days, it is time for me to get out of the house and head to the grocery store to pick up some essentials.  Like bread, it seems like I've run out.  I found that out when I wanted to make myself a sandwich yesterday with the bacon left over from Sunday's breakfast.  And couldn't.  Bummer.

With the bad weather supposedly coming, the stores will be busy the next few days.  Everyone seems to stock up in case we have a blizzard or ice and can't get out for days and days.  My cupboards are pretty well stocked, but I do need a few things such as bread, eggs and fresh produce.  That's one half of my pantry in the photo, they need a good cleaning out.  I'm sure I have a few items that have expired. 

I'm hungry for something and I haven't yet decided what that is.  Does that ever happen to you?  It's not something sweet.  Maybe it's just a plain ole cheeseburger.  Yes, that does sound good!  I'm putting hamburger and buns on my list.  What is your must-have food item to have on hand?     

Happy Tuesday!
xo Cheryl 

My Week...

Oh, what a night it was.

Do you ever have any sleepless nights?  You know, then, how it makes you feel the next day or two.  Tired, groggy, and just plain out of it, right?  

My week started off fairly well.  I spent a large part of the day Tuesday trying to find all the photos on my cantankerous laptop for my Before And After post of the work we did on Kim's house.

The next day, Wednesday, I did notice that my head was beginning to feel a bit full, but I braved the bitter cold and headed to CoMo to pick up daughter's payroll for her and exchange some drapes she had bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond, plus get a few needed items for myself.

Speaking of the drapes...one panel was 2 inches longer than the other and when hung side by side you could tell that even the colors weren't the same!  And they were supposed to be exactly alike!

Fast forward to Wednesday night...daughter cooked another delicious meal for us since I'd run errands for her.  During the meal, I started feeling light-headed.  Soon, I had to have help to go sit on the sofa.  I was getting very dizzy.  I tried to lay down, but that made it worse.

After a while, BG helped me into the car and I took some Sudafed as soon as we got home and then went straight to the recliner where I stayed the whole night. 

I was afraid of lying down as I'd once had labyrinthitis and it kept me in bed for a whole month.  Never want that ever again!  I couldn't even get up to go to the bathroom and believe me, bedpans are no fun.  Especially when you are home alone while hubby is at work. 

Will this night ever end?

~An old joke:  Will you take my bags?  I can't, they're attached to your eyes.~

I thought this hilarious when I was young, until I started getting them.

So, there I am trying to sleep and once after dozing off...THUD!...a kitty jumped upon me and kneaded my tummy before lying down for a nice long nap.  Lucky kitty.  To still be alive.  ha!

I didn't sleep, only dozed a very few times.  Each of the kitties took turns sleeping on me, even Sissy who never, ever gets on anyone's lap.  Maybe she thought I needed comforting because I'm sure I must have groaned a few times...and probably muttered a bad word or two while impatiently waiting for the dizziness to ease up.  

As dawn broke yesterday morning, I was feeling better and able to walk to the bathroom unassisted.  Which was a good thing, because BG had bailed out of the house early to go to work after checking to see if I was still alive.  He doesn't do sickness very well.  When he is sick, he heads down to the man cave and you never see him again until he is very hungry.

I discovered that I was hungry for something to eat, so I decided to have an egg for breakfast.  Which butterfingered me dropped on the floor before I could crack it open to put in the pan.  Which required me to bend over to clean up the mess.  Whew!  I passed the first test because I got it done without getting dizzy.

Then, it seemed like whatever bug I had must have hit some of the kitties because I found 2 messes to clean up from them losing their breakfast.  Serves them right for pestering me through the night...ha!  More bending over for the cleanup, but thankfully no dizziness.

Today, I am still spending quite a bit of time in the recliner as my head still feels a bit yucky and I'm just plain lazy tired for some reason.  The Christmas trees and decor will have to wait until tomorrow to be put away, so I get to enjoy the pretty lights another night.

Exciting post, huh?  LOL!  I hope your start to the New Year has been better than mine!  I'm behind on visiting, but I'll get by as soon as I can.  Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

xo Cheryl

Before and After

It's hard to believe that this is the same house we bought 2 years ago!  I walk in and look around and say "wow", even if we did do most of the work ourselves.  My daughter did a terrific job decorating, too.  Before, I get into the many before and afters that I promised to show, I have to say a word or two about our memorable Christmas.  

The tree above is one of several in my daughter's home.  We barely got finished in time for her to move in, but she is fast and had already planned where everything would go and had her Christmas decor ready to put together.  We had our traditional pizza at her home Christmas Eve and opened her gifts there and then went to our house to exchange more gifts and watch a movie and play card games.  Christmas Day was spent at home and I fixed a brisket, potatoes, corn in the Crock-pot, salad, rolls and a couple of pies.  We watched another movie and played more cards. 

In spite of everyone either sick, recovering from being sick or being very tired, we still had a wonderful Christmas!  Yes, I did get what laid BG low for a week just before Christmas.  Fortunately, I recovered just in time to finish up everything.  Our son was battling a virus when he came in, but he was able to stay with us for a few days and it was great to have him at home.  He was feeling much better by the time he went back to KC.

I still have my 2 trees and will keep them up until the 6th at least since I didn't get them up and decorated as early as I usually do.  My house always looks so bare when I take them down.  Now, on to the photo overload....ha!  Yes, I have a lot of photos.  But, I'll try to keep the words to a minimum.  Here we go....

Living Room - Before
Check out the hearth, ugh!  The tile was covered
and the sides were surrounded with oak.

 Living Room - After

 Another LR - After

Kitchen - Before 

We took out the w/d hookups and redid the

wall.  The deck outside was redone.

 Kitchen wall - After

(Ignore my purse hanging on the chair!)

 Another Kitchen After

We had to piece in the hardwood

flooring where they had a thick threshold covering 

a place where they must have taken out a wall.  You can

see it in the lower right of the photo.

 Another Kitchen After  

Kim fixed supper that night for us.

Hallway - Before 

We took out the floor register

and replaced with oak hardwood flooring.

Hall - After

There is another hallway leading

to the basement stairs, you can see a glimpse of 

the hall beyond leading to the basement door.  We

also put in a new attic access at the end of this hall

instead of having it in a bedroom closet.

Bedroom No. 1 - Before

This room wasn't in such bad shape until we had to

tear out walls for the rewiring.  The door goes out

to the spare room that is at the end of the deck.  That

room is still to be finished and it will be Kim's office.

Walls had to be taken out in some of the rooms in

order to see where old wires went and replace them with

new.  This is in the alcove in bedroom No. 1.

Bedroom No. 1 - After

The wall behind the bed is painted a dark blue as seen

in the mirror.  Kim plans to make a planked headboard for the 

wall behind her bed.  The star is a Christmas gift to be hung on

the deck wall.

   Bathroom - Before

Bathroom - After

Everything was replaced in this room and the stool

moved across the way making a bit more room.

Another Bathroom After

That is a closet to the left of the vanity.  

Bedroom No. 2 - Before

This room didn't need a lot done to it until some

of the walls had to have holes cut out to find/run wires.

Hardwood floors in all rooms were stripped and 

redone.

Bedroom No. 2 - After

Another Bedroom No. 2 After

Deck - Before

Deck - After

Since this photo was taken the middle of last year,

some of the soffits were replaced, power washing was

done on the concrete and the steps have been painted.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of what I've been calling The Project now known as Kim's house since she is renting it now.  At times it seemed like we would never get finished.  And, it's really not completely finished.  The spare room will get finished soon, I hope, but it's very livable until then.  The basement was gutted and needs to be redone.  Painting outside still needs to be done, too.  

Kim still has wall decor to hang, drapes to purchase and many other little things to get to complete her new home, but she's moved in and loves it.  She already has had friends in and they love it, too. 

Now on to other projects.  First up...a few books to read while I rest up.  Then I have some rooms I want to redo here.  And dare I say it?  Purging.  It seems that many are talking about it now.  Something I desperately need to do!  We'll see how it goes.  How about you?  Any big projects coming up this year?

Happy Wednesday to you!

xo Cheryl

Happy 2017!

It's hard to believe that 2016 has come to an end.  It

only seems like a short time ago we were all anxious

about Y2K...2000!  Now here we are at 2017.

Last year was a very good year, all things considered.   

We have many blessings for which we are truly grateful.  

Lots of work got done on our Project last year and

I will have some before and after photos to share 

in my next post.

Do you have resolutions for this new year?

I quit making New Year's resolutions a long time ago.

I figure that I'll never get through all those stacks of

magazines.  Nor will I stick with an exercise program

and drink only water.  And I'm pretty sure that I'll

never say no to chocolate.

I do hope to do better with my blogging this year.

It was a busy year so blogging kind of fell by the wayside.  

Losing my blogroll didn't help.  I started a new 

one but I still feel as if I'm missing some folks.  If you

 are one of them, please let me know!

Here's wishing you the very best year ever!

Happy New Year!

Love,

Cheryl