Catching Up

The days have flown since my last post and so I have a little catching up to do.  

We took several days off in March and went to Branson for my birthday and also to look for spring, which has been slow to arrive here. 

The very first day of spring, we drove out of our condo parking lot and found the beautiful Bradford Pear Maples in full bloom!

The weather was nice for the most part, although a little on the chilly side.  Speaking of chilly, it was 21 degrees this morning.  Our grass is growing fast but I'm glad the redbud trees haven't bloomed here yet with these low temps.

Our son was able to join us in Branson and the lake shots were taken by him.  While the men were watching the basketball games most afternoons, I visited as many flea markets as I could find in the area.  We would all go out for a yummy dinner at the end of the day.  Saltgrass is one of our new favorite places to eat.

I think I visited 6 flea markets one day, including the one in the photo above in Branson West.  The name of the shop escapes me, but I had seen it many times but never went in until this trip.

This shop wasn't very appealing from the outside, which teaches me not to judge the outer appearance.  The inside was very nice.  Is there a message in this somewhere?  :)   

I spotted the marshmallow tin and had to check out the price because I have one just like it.  Whew, that seems a tad high to me.  If I ever get a booth of my own going, it will be hard to know how to price my things. 

Did you see the can cans or petticoats hanging above the checkout counter?  If you're of a certain age, you may have even worn them at one time.  I remember mine were never as full as I wanted them to be and we called them can-cans.   

I think the square dancers might still wear these.  I haven't seen a square dance since my younger brother and his wife took it up when they lived in Texas many years ago.      

BG and I and our daughter, Kim, drove to Blue Springs to meet our son for dinner last Saturday.  I'm glad we didn't try to meet on Easter Sunday because we ended up getting some snow in the afternoon.  

We stopped in Odessa, a little town near KC, and found some interesting little shops there.  My favorite was the Silver Fox.  

My old college friend and roommate, Lynda, was from Odessa and she tells me she reads my blog.  So a shout-out to Lynda is in order.  Hi there...I loved visiting your old home town!  Of course, it looks much different now than it did way back then.  :)  
  

It's a small world...while we were browsing around in this shop, we spotted a woman we knew from our area.  She said she and her husband were on their way to the airport in KC to pick up her daughter and stopped off in Odessa to shop.  

I have been on the go since we returned from Branson.  I have too many projects started and none finished.  There are stacks of magazines on the table right now that I'm going through and putting in bundles.  I noticed a lot of vendors had them in their booths.

I haven't been blogging regularly for quite awhile, so I've pondered, yet again...about stopping.  But I just can't give it all up just yet.  

That said, I know that I will be taking more frequent and possibly longer breaks while I try to get a handle on these projects that both BG and I want to get done.  Also, the Booth Project is a real possibility and I'm working on that as well.  Everything except time seems to move at a snail's pace when one gets older.    

I want to thank all of you who have been wonderful blog friends through the 9 years that I've been blogging.  I do hope that blogging will continue even though I've seen many friends drop out.  It does take a lot of time and that is where I am at now.  

So, for now, I'll just say...take care, stay well and I'll see you when I see you!  It may be tomorrow, or next week, or next month or....

Love,
Cheryl

Happy Easter

For God so loved the world, 

that He gave His only begotten son 

that whosoever believeth in Him

should not perish,

but have everlasting life. 

 John 3:16

Wishing you a blessed Easter!

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Tuesday's This and That

~sunset photo courtesy of my daughter~

Sunrise, sunset...

Swiftly flow the days.

And the years.

I love that beautiful old song.  

This morning I woke up at 5 am and lay awake thinking about this and that and before I knew it the clock showed it was 7 am.  How could that be?  Surely only 30 minutes had passed!  No, I didn't fall back asleep, my thoughts were going in too many directions to sleep.  

There wasn't anything earthshaking keeping me awake, just the pondering of the many things I want to do and my upcoming birthday reminding me that I better get a move on if I'm to get even half of those things done while I still have a smidgen of energy.

As I've mentioned before, I'm wanting to get rid of those things that I don't use or love any longer.  It's a slow process for me as I get sidetracked so easily.  Just let me uncover a book or a magazine that looks interesting and I can easily lose track of the time.

One of my ponderings has me thinking about putting that stuff I don't want in a booth at a flea market.  I love browsing at flea markets and we certainly have enough things to fill a booth.  I'm also thinking this could develop into a hobby for BG and I after his retirement.  

We have a few pieces of wood furniture and wall shelves that need painting.  I love furniture painted white and haven't a clue what kind of paint to buy.  I've been researching online and have gotten a few ideas and if any of you in blogland has a favorite paint for furniture, I'd love for you to send me an email and let me know what you use.

This little 6 year old will be 72 years old this week.   She got a haircut last week which hopefully looks better than the hairdo of 66 years ago.  lol!  This must have been after one of those ghastly perms that my mother used to give me.  Usually, my hair turned out too curly.  Remember those tight little rollers and the solution was poured over them and then the suspense while waiting until they were unrolled to see what it looked like?  My hair has always been very fine and didn't take perms well.  I haven't had one since I was a youngster.  

Now it's time to go on a little day trip.  This little old girl is going to celebrate all week long!  I'll see you when I get back.

 
Happy Tuesday to you!
Cheryl    

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Rainy days...

I love day-tripping with my hubby, even if it is raining.  We headed down I-70 Saturday to Blue Springs, which is near KC, to get new tires put on our car.

Our son told us where we could get tires at a savings of $240, if we got them before the end of the sale, so we didn't mind driving several miles to save that much money. 

Brett met us at the tire shop and while we were waiting for the tires to be put on, he drove us to Plowboys BBQ for lunch.  I chose a 2 meat sandwich of pulled chicken and sausage with cheesy potatoes as my side.  It was very good! 

After lunch, I told the guys that I'd like to take a little stroll around the Brass Armadillo, so off we went just a couple of miles away to check it out.

Do you ever wonder how names are chosen for businesses?  I do.  And I have learned that this antique mall is one of a chain of 6 malls across the country.  

This wasn't my first visit to this antique mall, but when you step inside it is quite large and jam packed with booths filled with everything imaginable.  We got through about half of the mall before the tire shop called to tell us that the car was ready to go. 
 

I enjoyed the day in spite of the rain, which wasn't all that heavy.  It's just the spray from the traffic on the interstate that makes the driving a little more nerve-wracking, but we made it back home safe and sound.  

We found Miss Stormy sleeping on the basement steps with her favorite mouse.  After the drive home, we were ready for a nap, too.  





Fast forward to today, we had more rain last night and some expected later today.  The pond is full now after being so very low and that is good.  I've noticed the grass is getting more green each day.  Spring is on the way!  

Happy Wednesday to you!
Cheryl

Cat Tales and the Weather

Me:  "Stormy, you're going to have to move, I

need to use the sink."

Stormy:  "Oh great, I just got settled good and she 

wants me to move?  Maybe if I just ignore her,

she'll go away."

I love this little fur-kid.  She has the most expressive

face and ways to let me know how she feels or

what she wants.

Meanwhile, at my daughter's house, my Stormy's 

little lookalike, also called Stormy, has his own way of

showing his thoughts, too.

To set this up, let me first explain that daughter has

a gray cat that's been living with her long enough that

she thinks the house belongs to her.  Enter Stormy into

the house to visit and things get interesting.

Little Stormy:  "Oh, mom...you're gonna sit down over

there on the sofa?"

 

Little Stormy:  "Hope you don't mind if I join you. Uh oh,

I think the mean gray lady is headed this way, too." 

Little Stormy:  "I'm not here!"

 Now for a weather report - which includes some storms...

The views out my west window have been changing almost daily.  We've had sunshine with warm temps, cloudy and cold, snow flurries and some ice and thunderstorms with rain.  All in the last few days.   

It was in the 60's Monday and I looked out the window just in time to see a flock of robins in the yard.  We only have one more week of February, it's hard to believe but spring is just around the corner as the returning robins know.  The weather has dropped back into the 20's for now, but it won't be long before we see more birds returning and other signs of spring.  I'm ready!   

Happy Wednesday to you!

Cheryl

Happy Valentine's Day

I had fun making this Valentine card in PicMonkey.  Pretend you can open it up and the following quotes for this special day are inside.

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

 "Grow old with me, the best is yet to be."

~Robert Browning

 "What the world really needs is more love

and less paperwork."

~Pearl Bailey

"All you need is love.  But a little bit of 

chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

~Charles M. Schulz

💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 

These three quote are just a few of my favorite love quotes.  The first quote is one I wish for my hubby and me.  The second is one that makes me nod my head in agreement now that I'm beginning to work through a mound of papers accumulated over many years.  The third quote is one that makes me smile.  Who doesn't like a bit of chocolate every now and then?  Or some beautiful flowers?  Or maybe you're like me and would rather just be taken out for dinner.  What is your ideal Valentine treat? 

To my blogging friends, I hope this Valentine's Day is filled with happy moments, happy memories and above all...love.

Happy Valentine's Day with love,

Cheryl  

A Snowy Drive, Faux Plants and Jeans

We're already a week into February.  I have barely started on all the purging that I planned to do this winter and spring will be here before I know it, so I need to get busy!  But, cabin fever has set in.

When the weather is not bad and I'm feeling good, I like to get out of the house and go somewhere.  Sunday, we decided to head down the interstate and meet our son for dinner.

The weather was only calling for a few flurries so we thought we would be okay.  A few miles down the interstate, the snow picked up and we saw the first car off the highway.  The roads were getting worse and we saw 2 more vehicles off the road with one upside down.  If folks would just slow down, this might not happen.  We were only going 50 mph or at times even slower depending on the amount of snow.  The visibility was the worst part, especially when the big trucks whizzed by us.

Our son called and said he had seen 5 vehicles off the highway and we should turn around at the next exit and go back home.  We decided that since we were close to our meeting place that we would just keep going as the weather was supposed to clear off that afternoon.  Brett had already gone through the city where the highways were the most snow covered.

We soon ran out of the worst of the snow and the highway was much better before we got to our destination.  After we visited with our son over our food and got on the road to head back, the sun was shining and the highway was mostly clear all the way back home.  It turned out to be an enjoyable day after all.

After tasting the delicious ribs that BG had ordered when we were in KC, I had to have a plate of my own.  Wow, I had no idea I would get this many!  And they were yummy.  I choose broccoli and a salad for my 2 sides.  The men picked combo platters for their meal.  We all had food left over to take home.   

I went to the Big Town the other day and stopped in at Marshall's.  Faux plants were seen everywhere in the housewares dept.  I have gotten a couple of them in the past.  One is very like the 3rd one from the left on the top row and I have it on a lamp table.  I love a bit of greenery in my house.  

Faux plants are nice to have when you have kitties in the house as they won't get sick chewing on them!  I have to keep most of my real plants up high so they can't get to them.  What do you think of faux plants?  

After stopping in at Marshall's, I headed to Kohl's to look for some new jeans.  I wear them a lot unless the weather is warm and then I usually wear capris.  At home, I wear comfy clothes such as sweat pants/shirts or t-shirts.

I have seen the jeans with holes in them many times, but it's still a shock when you see them hanging on the racks and look at the prices.  Gads.  I can remember when no one would be seen wearing these!

I saw some jeans that looked "normal" but upon closer inspection, they had tiny threadbare spots in them.  Nope, not for me!  I finally found a couple of pair that were nice.  What do you think of this current trend of holes in jeans?  Yay or Nay?

This sunset was snapped outside my front door yesterday.  It was a chilly day but the weatherman was wrong again and we didn't get the snow that was predicted.

Not sure what I'll get into today.  That procrastinating little elf sitting on my shoulder is whispering in my ear and telling me that I should get out of the house since the temps are supposed to reach into the 40's.  We shall see.  

Happy Thursday to you!
Cheryl 

This and That

If you read Better Homes and Gardens, then you've seen this photo on the cover.  What do you think?  

I'm thinking I couldn't live with that pattern!  I've been popping Sudafed for several days to help with a stuffed up head and a few bouts of dizziness.  If I had a kitchen like that one, it would make me dizzy for sure!

We went to Kansas City over the weekend to visit our son.  He does so much traveling and it's not fair for him to have to drive in all the time to see us.  We had a nice visit and it was good to get away for a couple of days.  

I put the BH&G magazine in the suitcase in case I had a little time for looking through it.  It is one of the free subscriptions I get.  I love magazines, but I don't buy many any longer.  With blogs and Pinterest to look at, I don't need to.

One of my favorite things to do is eat out and we had some yummy food while in KC.  This plate wasn't mine, but I got a taste of the ribs and they were delicious.  BG always orders french fries.  I had shrimp, potato salad and roasted corn.  We all split a huge ice cream on a brownie dessert.  I was so eager to dig in that I forgot to take a pic of it.  I know...I'm not supposed to eat sugary things, but a girl has to have a treat once in awhile.  ☺

I had to stop in and browse around at Home Goods at Blue Springs on the way home.  I love that store and we don't have one in CoMo. 

The horse can be had for a mere $699!  I didn't think of trying to see how heavy it was.  Where would you put it?  At least you wouldn't have to buy hay and oats for it.  lol!   

I saw lots of lovely things that were tempting, but since I've been trying to weed out things I don't need or love, the only thing I purchased was a bottle of my favorite perfume from the TJMaxx side of the store.  It was marked way down to about half of what I usually have to pay, so I hope the scent is still the same.  I haven't checked it out yet.

This week has been one for resting and keeping my head still.  I'm hoping to go to the Big Town later today.  I have a coupon that needs to be used before it expires tonight.  What are you up to this week?  It's hard to believe it's the last day of January!

Happy Wednesday to you!
Cheryl   

Antiques and a Quiz

Most of the pieces in this old oak-front cabinet used to belong to my grandmother.  There are a few things that are mine such as a cut glass bowl that I bought at an estate sale.  

These are pieces that I rarely ever use and I'm beginning to think that all I'm doing is baby-sitting them.  Am I losing my sense of nostalgia?  Maybe.  All I know is that I'm not quite as fond of these things as I once was and am thinking it's time to pass them along 
or sell them.

I would keep a few pieces such as the mustache cups and the old soap dish.  When both my children are here next, I will ask them if they want any of the pieces.  The bottom half of the cabinet is also full.  

The next step is trying to figure out how to price the pieces and how/where to sell them.  I haven't yet delved into Etsy or eBay to try to learn about selling, so if anyone has a good site for me to learn or tips to share, I'd welcome advice.  

Now, speaking of old...

I have a quiz that my daughter shared from FB that I thought was fun.  It's called Take the "OLDER THAN DIRT" Quiz.

Do You Remember?

 1.  BlackJack Chewing Gum
 2.  Wax coke-shaped bottle with colored sugar water
 3.  Butch wax
 4.  Candy Cigarettes
 5.  Soda Pop machines with glass bottles
 6.  Howdy Doody
 7.  Restaurants with tableside JukeBoxes
 8.  Home milk delivery in glass bottles
 9.  Party Telephone Lines
10. NewsReels before the movies
11. 45 RPM records
12. P.F. Flyers
13. Carrying a metal lunchbox
14. Drive-in movie theaters
15. Telephone numbers with word prefix (Olive-6971)
16. The Andy Griffith show
17. Soda Fountains
18. Roller Skate keys
19. S&H green stamps
20. Blue flashbulbs

If you remember 0 to 5  -  You're a WhipperSnapper 
If you remember 6 to 15  -  You're getting there
If you remember 16 to 20  -  You're "Older Than Dirt"

How did you score?  I scored 17 and BG scored 18, so that makes us older than dirt, I suppose.  lol!  

The sun is shining and everyone is well in my household.  That makes it a great day!  Hope your day is going well, too.

Happy Wednesday to you!
Cheryl
                                        

It's Colder Than Kraut

Have you ever heard the expression "colder than kraut"?  Think -20 degrees wind chill, which we've had this week, and a lot of phrases come to mind.  Oh, I know many that live further north have temps much colder, but this is colder than what we normally see in winter.

Colder than kraut, is a phrase that I remember from childhood as my dad would announce just how cold it was as he came in the house on a particularly frigid morning after feeding the livestock and cutting ice so they could get a drink.

If school was cancelled for the day, as our locals schools have done the past two days, we would be called upon to help with the chores.  I didn't mind going out in the cold in those days.  What a difference the years make!  Now, I'd rather stay inside my warm, cozy home and wait for warmer weather to go out. 
 

We had around 2 inches of snow to go along with the bitter cold temps.  The good news is that a warming trend is supposed to begin today and will possibly reach 55 degrees Saturday.

I will be going to the eye clinic for another injection today.  It's hard to tell if the last one has helped much.  I hope it's a bit warmer by the time I go!   

I did get some good news regarding an ultrasound and more blood work I had done over a week ago.  The last time I had labs done my white cell count was very elevated and my liver functions were too.  The doctor wanted me to have an ultrasound of my gall bladder and liver to be on the safe side.  

I'm happy to say the results of the ultrasound were normal and my labs were mostly normal to much improved.  The white cell count is now normal but a couple of things are not back to where they should be but are vastly improved, so I'm to try to drink more water and I don't have to go back for 3 months.  Whew!  It seems like I've been in the doctor's office more this winter than the past few years.     

I really think that the last time I came down with a cold/virus was from sitting in the clinic where there were several sick people in the waiting room.  Of course, I suppose you can catch something just going to the grocery store.

We've been discussing...just for grins...where we would live to escape the cold winter it we were to decide to move.  Hawaii sounds wonderful, but it's too far from family.  The deep south gets too hot in the summer.  California has too many problems and there's the fires, mud slides and possible earthquakes to worry about.  Is there a perfect place?  Where would you live if you decided to move and could go anywhere you wanted to?

A prize will be given to the one who guesses correctly the number of times I said the word "cold" or "colder" in this post.  lol!!  Just kidding! 

Happy Wednesday to you!
Cheryl  

My List

This is the time of year that is so hard to get decent photos outside what with the often cloudy, dreary days.  I'm happy we didn't get the ice that was predicted for Thursday in this area, but it remained gloomy and turned very cold.

With that said, and because I haven't used my camera much lately, I'll have to resort to borrowing from my archives.  I don't take a lot of photos inside my house, which you'll see why in a minute, and I haven't tried out any notable recipes to share.  In fact, BG just got over a cold and now I have it, so neither one of us has been very hungry and have been eating light.  

Since I didn't have any energy yesterday to actually do anything around the house, I made a list of goals of things I'd like to see done before the year is over.  We'll see.  I also have included a few personal goals.

I will hopefully remember which month I wrote these down and tick off the ones that get done.  You'll see I've been a little ambitious in my thinking.  ☺   But, hey, if you don't make a plan in my house, everything gets shoved to the back burner.   

Personal Goals:

 1 - Keep drinking water...lots of water and stay away from 
       the sugary drinks I dearly love and kick Diabetes 2 to the curb!
 2 - Go through my closets and get rid of clothes that are sadly
       outdated and maybe buy a few new things if I drop any more
       pounds due to cutting out sugar. 
 3 - Try to stay away from the white bread which is harder to do  
        for me than giving up sugar.
 4 - Get my camera out and take more photos.  
 5 - Try out some new, healthy recipes.
 6 - There's more, but I'll keep them private for now.

Next are goals for our house that we've been neglecting for the last few years.  It's time to get these things done.

 1 - paint living room, hallway and bedrooms
 2 - put hardwood flooring in living room and kitchen
       and hallway...maybe...or carpet
 3 - new carpet in 3 bedrooms
 4 - redo walls and paint basement
 5 - replace big window in basement
 6 - new window in living room?
 7 - new drapes for living room window
 8 - need 2 new recliners for living room
 9 - decide on whether to keep oak front cabinet
10 - weed out unneeded sets of dishes
11 - have 3 trees cut down
12 - replace gutters?
13 - paint inside garage
14 - replace flooring in storage building on patio and paint outside
15 - need new large patio rug
16 - spray paint front flower pots
17 - prune knockout roses
18 - prune fruit trees
19 - look for new lamps for living room
20 - replace furnace?

I'm sure there's something that I forgot, but that's a start.  Thankfully our appliances are in good shape, well maybe the dishwasher is getting a little old but it still works good.

And then there is the other house we bought where our daughter lives now.  We need to finish up some things there.  I won't try to list them...I might start getting depressed.  ha!

We'll be able to get a lot done if I can get my stubborn, sweet hubby who thinks he can do everything himself, to hire a little help.  Now, as soon as I feel like getting out, I think I'll go buy a Lottery ticket!

Happy Friday to you!
Cheryl

Are We There Yet?

If you have ever traveled with children then you most likely have heard them ask "are we there yet?"  

And now I'm traveling down the long, cold road to spring.  Are we there yet?  I know, we're only nine days into January.  It's just that this has been such a cold month so far and I am so not a winter person.  I do enjoy a little snow, but the bitter cold and icy conditions are what I could cheerfully give up.  

I didn't mind winters when I was a youngster and fondly remember the days when I went ice skating on the pond or sledding with my brothers.  Seems like we had more snow then than we do now.   

The photo of the barn is one I found in my archives.  We haven't had that much snow yet.  We had a lot of fog and icy branches this morning and some black ice.  I need to fill the bird feeders but don't want to walk across the patio for fear of falling.  

Ahh...much better!  I grabbed a flower pic from the archives and I'll look at this while I'm finishing up my to-do list for 2018.  Maybe I'll post it next time.  It's turning into a lengthy one and I'm quite sure that some things will not get done, but it's good to have a list and even better when something is crossed off and marked done.  

I don't make resolutions but set goals and hope to achieve a few of them.  How about you?  Do you have a special goal in mind for this new year?  And how is the weather in your part of the world?

Happy Tuesday to you!
Cheryl

A New Year and Christmas Memories

Greetings to my friends and family!  We had a wonderful New Year's Eve at my daughter's house and we saw the new year in with games, food, music and a little impromptu dancing by Kim and me. 

Kim's friend Mike was providing the music and picked out many oldies and goodies that are our favorites.  Stayin' Alive started playing and my daughter and I couldn't sit still.  It was just so wonderful to feel good again after a long siege of something, which thankfully ended just before Christmas, that I felt like dancing.

Thanks to all of you who congratulated me on the weight loss.  I must confess that I hadn't been trying to lose weight.  It just fell off because I had to cut out the sugar and white bread after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.   

My numbers have been really good and my A1c came back in the normal range, so I felt like treating myself to a few sweets over Christmas.  Hopefully I haven't gained back those pounds I lost!  Ha!  But, oh the peanut butter fudge and cashew crunch I picked up at the Amish bakery was so delicious!  

We also had a fabulous Christmas.  We opened our gifts on Christmas eve at my house and had pizza for supper.  On Christmas Day, we went to our daughter's house for a delicious dinner of brisket, cheesy potatoes, crock-pot corn, green beans and salad.  I made rolls to take.  It was just the 5 of us, my family and her friend, Mike.  

Our son was here for the holidays.  He went back to KC for a few days in between Christmas and New Year's, but it was so nice to have him home for several days.  He had picked up a scratchy throat and a bit of a cough, but he got some rest and thankfully he didn't get very sick.

Kim's house was decorated beautifully for Christmas.  Her living room is the first photo in the above collage.  My tree is to the right.   The tree in the lower left corner is in her kitchen.  The photo of Kim and me was taken playing around with Snap Chat.  

Kim has trees in every room and the one above is in her bedroom.  I have already shown the one in the spare bedroom in a previous post.  This tree might be my favorite.  It's all white and blue ornaments.  

My trees didn't suffer too much kitty related damage.  A few ornaments were knocked off.  Stormy kept moving the little tree skirt from around my kitchen tree.  She thought it was there for her to sleep on.  
 
We had snow for Christmas!  It didn't amount to very much but it was nice to have a white Christmas and also have the roads clear for traveling.  But, oh my goodness, has the weather turned bitterly cold!  It is so cold that our furnace runs non-stop.  

My trees are still up and I'm enjoying the lights from both trees as I write this post from my recliner.  I will do the take down and put away this weekend.  My trees didn't get put up very early so I'm going to enjoy them as long as I can!

Wishing each of my friends and family many blessings in this New Year and good health and happiness!   Thank you to all my blogging friends who have visited and commented throughout the past year.  Your friendship means a lot to me.  I'm sorry I didn't get around to everyone to wish you Merry Christmas, but I was so behind on everything due to the illness I had for over a month.  My goal is to be a better blogger this year...and to get organized at home!   

Love,
Cheryl