Hey, Y'all,
Ir is a quiet Sunday morning and as usual, it is quiet in here, except for the television going here in my workroom. I have been up since 7 a.m. and have had my breakfast of hot oatmeal, and am beginning to think about lunch. I have some crab dip in the refrigerator and some fresh apples that I could eat. I'll try not to think of them until after I finish this posting.
For those of you who are not tired to death of hearing about the quilt I have been making for my youngest grandson, I have yet to do the label for it, so that generations to come will be able to look at it and perhaps say, "Who is Grandma Ruby Young?" only to hear that I was their great grandma. After my sewing machine that did embroidery tore up, I am reduced to doing labels by hand embroidery. I learned that craft at the age of 11 or 12 years. It is exciting to think that maybe I can still do so. So, this morning, after I had started my oatmeal, I got out a piece of cloth for the label, and got a piece of notebook paper, a piece of tracing paper, and wrote out the letters the way I wanted them on the notebook paper. Then I traced them onto the thin tracing paper, and placed it under the cloth. I put them into the embroidery hoop, and began the stitching.
By that time, my oatmeal was ready to eat, and of course, I read as I ate, and then decided it was time to get online and check my e-mail and facebook, and chat with my daughter, Teresa. So, here it is, 3 hours or so later, and I will probably finish (or try to) the label for the quilt. I will publish pictures of the quilt after my grandson has his quilt. Maybe a month from now. After today you won't hear anymore about it until he has it in his possession. I promise.
When we went to Knoxville yesterday, I took Imazo to her hair appointment before we all went to lunch. I had opportunity to meet a very interesting lady named Barbara. Isn't it wonderful how a person can meet so many lovely people? Of course, as you may know, I have never met a stranger who remained a stranger for long. This lady is living with an ungrateful son, who wants to charge her rent for letting her stay with him. She says he has not any problem with money (except keeping all he has and wanting more). She is living on social security and less than a thousand dollars a month. Barbara is looking for housing that will allow her to keep her four cats who are all quite old, and she doesn't want to have them euthanized. So she does have quite a problem. Not only does he want to charge her rent, he is quite rude to her. Barbara is very busy looking for a place to live. She has a sparkling personality and has had quite an interesting life. She had been letting her hair grow out so that she could donate it to a place that uses hair to make wigs for people who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Isn't that a lovely unselfish thing to do? Please help me to pray that she will find a good place for her and her cats to live. Thanks.
Tomorrow is Monday, and we will be having our neighbors down to eat with us again. How very much we enjoy that! It is wonderful to have young people in our home. I am planning on making some date-nut bread for dessert Monday evening. We will be having salad and home-made pizza. I intend to make the pizza sauce this afternoon after I have my lunch and also the date nut bread will be made sometime today as well.
We had a great time yesterday in Knoxville. We went to Cracker Barrel of course, and all four of us had breakfast for lunch. Yum! Later, we went back to Imazo's and watched a movie called Indigo Child. It was quite interesting as well as enjoyable. We came back home and later in the day, I opened a can of soup for Gramps and heated his evening coffee.
Around 8 p.m., my friend, Ina Ray, stopped by and we visited for a couple of hours. It is always wonderful to visit with her. She brings so much sunshine into my life and we just share stories of what has been happening since we last saw each other.
Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you. Bye for now. More later.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Almost Finished....
Hey, Y'all,
This morning, I woke up to flurries, again. You know, it doesn't matter how many times I have seen it snowing, it still infuses me with excitement. I don't tire of seeing the flakes falling and turning the ground white. Yes, I know it keeps me indoors, but I can deal with that. The snow melted within a couple of hours after it fell. With a husband who has dementia, it is not difficult to find things to do indoors. He has finally stopped searching for a book that has never existed, except in his mind.
I got up early this morning (as is my habit) and began collecting certificates that he has received in his lifetime for various achievements, and placed them each in plastic sheet protectors, and placed all of them in a notebook with his name on the front of it. The first one was a letter which he had received from the Tennessee Department of Education signed by the then governor, Ned McWherter. The letter was written to him upon his retirement in 1988, thanking him for his years of service to the children he had taught over the years. This was followed by the Certificate of Appreciation signed by the local superintendent of schools. Another sheet protector held a greeting card signed by his fellow teachers.
Also contained in the notebook were certificates acknowledging his service as deacon to the two churches where he was a member in his lifetime. You get the idea, I know. I took the notebook to him after he got up this morning and had his breakfast. He said, "I guess I can quit searching for the book now, can't I?". I said, "Yes, you can if you wish". The notebook of his accomplishments satisfied his wishes to be able to show his accomplishments to anyone who comes to visit us. When I mentioned it this evening to him, he said he appreciated me and his Aunt Lula doing the notebook for him. Apparently he thought it was his Aunt Lula who gave the notebook to him this morning. I told him he was welcome and that we were glad we could do it for him.
On Monday I had made mashed potatoes, and had a whole lot of them left over. I shared them with our neighbors and yesterday, I made enough potato cakes (I added flour, eggs, chopped onions to the potatoes and made them into patties and fried them in olive oil). Today, I made a couple of loaves of bread using a cup of the leftover mashed potatoes in them. Yum! It is really good, hot right out of the oven, with butter and jelly on it. I will have some toasted in the morning with my oatmeal. One loaf I took up to our neighbors while it was still hot, just out of the oven.
I have finished the hand stitching on my grandson's quilt, and will be doing the decorative stitching around the border in the morning, along with doing the laundry and seeing that Gramps gets his shower tomorrow morning. We are planning on going in to Knoxville early on Saturday, and having breakfast with Mae and Imazo, my two sisters-in-law who live there. For those of you who may not know, Mae, age 90, was married to my oldest brother, Bill, who passed away 23 years ago, and Imazo, age 82, was married to my brother, Hugh, who passed away just 13 months ago.
We usually watch a movie when we go in to spend some time with them. I take a dvd and we watch it at either Mae's or Imazo's. I will be picking up Imazo so she can get her hair done and I will leave Gramps at her house while she has it done. We will then go back and pick up him and Mae and the four of us will go have breakfast either at Shoney's or Cracker Barrel. Then we will have our movie viewing probably at Imazo's.
Tonight I watched American Idol as they let two guys and two girls go, so they now have 10 boys and 10 girls who will perform next week. It is always interesting to see them perform, and to see how they are judged by the four judges and also the public. It is also interesting to see how they receive the news when they are let go. I feel so sorry for them, and think how very difficult it must be to stand there and be criticized.
Well, it has been a long day today, and I look forward to bedtime and some rest. I do well when I get 6 hours of sleep. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Thinking of my youngest brother, John, who passed away 14 months ago. He would have been 74 today. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now. More later.
This morning, I woke up to flurries, again. You know, it doesn't matter how many times I have seen it snowing, it still infuses me with excitement. I don't tire of seeing the flakes falling and turning the ground white. Yes, I know it keeps me indoors, but I can deal with that. The snow melted within a couple of hours after it fell. With a husband who has dementia, it is not difficult to find things to do indoors. He has finally stopped searching for a book that has never existed, except in his mind.
I got up early this morning (as is my habit) and began collecting certificates that he has received in his lifetime for various achievements, and placed them each in plastic sheet protectors, and placed all of them in a notebook with his name on the front of it. The first one was a letter which he had received from the Tennessee Department of Education signed by the then governor, Ned McWherter. The letter was written to him upon his retirement in 1988, thanking him for his years of service to the children he had taught over the years. This was followed by the Certificate of Appreciation signed by the local superintendent of schools. Another sheet protector held a greeting card signed by his fellow teachers.
Also contained in the notebook were certificates acknowledging his service as deacon to the two churches where he was a member in his lifetime. You get the idea, I know. I took the notebook to him after he got up this morning and had his breakfast. He said, "I guess I can quit searching for the book now, can't I?". I said, "Yes, you can if you wish". The notebook of his accomplishments satisfied his wishes to be able to show his accomplishments to anyone who comes to visit us. When I mentioned it this evening to him, he said he appreciated me and his Aunt Lula doing the notebook for him. Apparently he thought it was his Aunt Lula who gave the notebook to him this morning. I told him he was welcome and that we were glad we could do it for him.
On Monday I had made mashed potatoes, and had a whole lot of them left over. I shared them with our neighbors and yesterday, I made enough potato cakes (I added flour, eggs, chopped onions to the potatoes and made them into patties and fried them in olive oil). Today, I made a couple of loaves of bread using a cup of the leftover mashed potatoes in them. Yum! It is really good, hot right out of the oven, with butter and jelly on it. I will have some toasted in the morning with my oatmeal. One loaf I took up to our neighbors while it was still hot, just out of the oven.
I have finished the hand stitching on my grandson's quilt, and will be doing the decorative stitching around the border in the morning, along with doing the laundry and seeing that Gramps gets his shower tomorrow morning. We are planning on going in to Knoxville early on Saturday, and having breakfast with Mae and Imazo, my two sisters-in-law who live there. For those of you who may not know, Mae, age 90, was married to my oldest brother, Bill, who passed away 23 years ago, and Imazo, age 82, was married to my brother, Hugh, who passed away just 13 months ago.
We usually watch a movie when we go in to spend some time with them. I take a dvd and we watch it at either Mae's or Imazo's. I will be picking up Imazo so she can get her hair done and I will leave Gramps at her house while she has it done. We will then go back and pick up him and Mae and the four of us will go have breakfast either at Shoney's or Cracker Barrel. Then we will have our movie viewing probably at Imazo's.
Tonight I watched American Idol as they let two guys and two girls go, so they now have 10 boys and 10 girls who will perform next week. It is always interesting to see them perform, and to see how they are judged by the four judges and also the public. It is also interesting to see how they receive the news when they are let go. I feel so sorry for them, and think how very difficult it must be to stand there and be criticized.
Well, it has been a long day today, and I look forward to bedtime and some rest. I do well when I get 6 hours of sleep. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Thinking of my youngest brother, John, who passed away 14 months ago. He would have been 74 today. Much love to each of you, my friends. Bye for now. More later.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Still Looking...
Hey, Y'all,
Well, it is Sunday morning and the weekend has been really nice. The weather has been lovely and we were so very glad to get out on Friday and go to Knoxville. This time, Mae was not able to go to lunch with us, so we picked up an order of ham and biscuits at her request and went back to her home after we ate, and watched the movie at her house. She was not ill, but had to have a plumber come at that time we were eating, so he was finishing just as we drove up after lunch.
We really enjoyed the movie called "A Talent for the Game" starring James Edward Olmos. We left it with her so her son, Fred, could view it later. He was there when we arrived and could only see the first part of it, because he had to leave before it was over. We left after the movie was over and soon were headed home. After we got back home, Gramps continued his search for "the book", and has not really stopped looking. He continually looks in the same places, of course, and our house is really fairly small, probably about 1000 square feet, all told. He has looked in the living room coat closet several times and also in the quilt/blanket chest in the living room. I am hoping he will eventually forget about it, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for that.
Bless his heart.
Yesterday, our neighbor's daughter, Olivia, came down and spent a few hours with us, mostly with me, and we had lunch where I introduced her to fried bologna (she had never tasted it before) and she really liked it. Then she and I made some toll house cookies, (of which we ate quite a few and so did Gramps). A little later, she helped me make a raisin pie, and I taught her how to make a latticed crust on the top of it. Olivia had brought a movie to watch with me about Narnia. We watched it on my computer. We really enjoyed that, too.
Olivia had brought a couple of packets of food with her that had been cooked in foil by Laurie. We reheated them, and they were delicious. Laurie slices potatoes, and adds carrots, peas, and corn to them, seasons them with a seasoned salt of her making, adds olive oil, and seals the individual servings into heavy aluminum foil and bakes them at 350 - 375 for about an hour. Yum! I am going to try making them sometime for Gramps and myself.
Laurie and Scott had taken Mitch down to Maryville with a friend of his, and of course, their son, Gabriel, so that Mitch and his friend could take practice ACT tests. It was really neat to get to spend some time with Olivia. She is so gracious and unspoiled. When she was helping me with the dishes, I told her how we used to do dishes when we moved to the farm. We had no running water, but had to draw our water from the cistern at the back porch, and heat it on the cook stove in the kitchen. Then we used dishpans to wash and rinse the dishes in. It was my job to rinse and dry the dishes. Usually about that time, I would excuse myself and run down to the outhouse, and try to stay out of the kitchen until I thought Margaret would go ahead and rinse and dry the dishes to get them done and put away. Several times that worked, but most often did not. It didn't stop me from trying, though. Ha. Yeah, I know, my bad. I hated dishes and would rather have curled up with a good book to read.
Speaking of reading, all the members of my family were readers. We all loved to lose ourselves in the midst of a good book. I think that came from the fact that my parents both were readers, and so we were influenced by that fact. I can be reading a book and never be aware of what is going on around me. Maybe that is why I love words so much and have no trouble writing my thoughts and feelings. It is rather therapeutic, you know. I really appreciate those of you who take the time to read my weblog. Thank you so very much.
I have been up now for about two and a half hours and have had my breakfast of oatmeal and toast and tea. I was sneezing last night, and stayed up till I thought I could sleep (I went to bed around 1:15 this morning). I was playing my present addictional game of Faerie Solitaire. It is like eating potato chips - you can't eat just one. It has forty levels, and 9 parts of each level. I think I have played it through about 5 times. Arggghhhh.
Gramps is still abed, and probably will be for awhile. I will probably sew some on BJ's quilt after while after Gramps is up and about. I've just about said all I have to say for right now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now. Have a great day, y'all!
Well, it is Sunday morning and the weekend has been really nice. The weather has been lovely and we were so very glad to get out on Friday and go to Knoxville. This time, Mae was not able to go to lunch with us, so we picked up an order of ham and biscuits at her request and went back to her home after we ate, and watched the movie at her house. She was not ill, but had to have a plumber come at that time we were eating, so he was finishing just as we drove up after lunch.
We really enjoyed the movie called "A Talent for the Game" starring James Edward Olmos. We left it with her so her son, Fred, could view it later. He was there when we arrived and could only see the first part of it, because he had to leave before it was over. We left after the movie was over and soon were headed home. After we got back home, Gramps continued his search for "the book", and has not really stopped looking. He continually looks in the same places, of course, and our house is really fairly small, probably about 1000 square feet, all told. He has looked in the living room coat closet several times and also in the quilt/blanket chest in the living room. I am hoping he will eventually forget about it, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for that.
Bless his heart.
Yesterday, our neighbor's daughter, Olivia, came down and spent a few hours with us, mostly with me, and we had lunch where I introduced her to fried bologna (she had never tasted it before) and she really liked it. Then she and I made some toll house cookies, (of which we ate quite a few and so did Gramps). A little later, she helped me make a raisin pie, and I taught her how to make a latticed crust on the top of it. Olivia had brought a movie to watch with me about Narnia. We watched it on my computer. We really enjoyed that, too.
Olivia had brought a couple of packets of food with her that had been cooked in foil by Laurie. We reheated them, and they were delicious. Laurie slices potatoes, and adds carrots, peas, and corn to them, seasons them with a seasoned salt of her making, adds olive oil, and seals the individual servings into heavy aluminum foil and bakes them at 350 - 375 for about an hour. Yum! I am going to try making them sometime for Gramps and myself.
Laurie and Scott had taken Mitch down to Maryville with a friend of his, and of course, their son, Gabriel, so that Mitch and his friend could take practice ACT tests. It was really neat to get to spend some time with Olivia. She is so gracious and unspoiled. When she was helping me with the dishes, I told her how we used to do dishes when we moved to the farm. We had no running water, but had to draw our water from the cistern at the back porch, and heat it on the cook stove in the kitchen. Then we used dishpans to wash and rinse the dishes in. It was my job to rinse and dry the dishes. Usually about that time, I would excuse myself and run down to the outhouse, and try to stay out of the kitchen until I thought Margaret would go ahead and rinse and dry the dishes to get them done and put away. Several times that worked, but most often did not. It didn't stop me from trying, though. Ha. Yeah, I know, my bad. I hated dishes and would rather have curled up with a good book to read.
Speaking of reading, all the members of my family were readers. We all loved to lose ourselves in the midst of a good book. I think that came from the fact that my parents both were readers, and so we were influenced by that fact. I can be reading a book and never be aware of what is going on around me. Maybe that is why I love words so much and have no trouble writing my thoughts and feelings. It is rather therapeutic, you know. I really appreciate those of you who take the time to read my weblog. Thank you so very much.
I have been up now for about two and a half hours and have had my breakfast of oatmeal and toast and tea. I was sneezing last night, and stayed up till I thought I could sleep (I went to bed around 1:15 this morning). I was playing my present addictional game of Faerie Solitaire. It is like eating potato chips - you can't eat just one. It has forty levels, and 9 parts of each level. I think I have played it through about 5 times. Arggghhhh.
Gramps is still abed, and probably will be for awhile. I will probably sew some on BJ's quilt after while after Gramps is up and about. I've just about said all I have to say for right now. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now. Have a great day, y'all!
Friday, February 19, 2010
The Search
Hey, Y'all,
Have you ever searched for something that you were sure you had, and had misplaced? Well, that has been going on in our household for about all week this week, but it is something that exists only in Gramps' imagination. It is a book that he is sure that the state department of education sent to him in appreciation for his years of teaching, thanking him for the years of service.
He began looking for it since Monday, and has looked the whole house over many times each day. I asked him to describe it for me, and he gave me a full description of color, size, and when he thinks he got it. Alas, he cannot find it because it simply exists only in his mind. I have even searched, thinking that perhaps I could find something that would suggest what he is seeking, like a certificate of appreciation (which I found, of course), but he says that no, they sent him a book and that he was busy with something when it came and just put it to one side and now he can't find it.
While I was looking through the bookcase in the living room (which he has searched several times each day), I ran across my two yearbooks from Carson-Newman College, and took time to leaf through them. I took a trip down memory lane and reread the loving and nice things that friends had written in them, and looked at the fresh young faces of the people that we were then, and reflected on the many changes that have come about through the years since. I closed the books and put them back on the shelf and came back into the present.
This week has been a busy one, not a lot of time devote to the use of the computer (including reading and posting blogs, or even facebook). I have been handstitching on our grandson's quilt, and am down to the last two squares. I have yet to check for threads that need clipping, and the decorative stitching on the binding, and the label to go onto it. It will probably be another week before I can launder and send it to his mom to see it firsthand and then she will send it on to him. Meals have had to be made, laundry done, showers taken, and all the other little day-to-day chores that take up the time.
Today we are planning on going into Knoxville to spend some time with family there and have our movie day. We finally have some really good weather to enjoy.. It is supposed to be close to 50 degrees out today. Yeay! No more snow for a few days at least. I have yet to have my breakfast, and I better get to shakin' because it is past 9 a.m. and I am beginning to get a little hungry. I was up at 7 a.m. I had the pleasure of an online chat with Teresa, our youngest. She was working on our income taxes (we've got people), and had some questions for me, before she left to go in to work for the day. It is always a pleasure to talk to my daughters. I yearn to see them more than I can do.
Well, that is about it for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Bye for now. More later.
Have you ever searched for something that you were sure you had, and had misplaced? Well, that has been going on in our household for about all week this week, but it is something that exists only in Gramps' imagination. It is a book that he is sure that the state department of education sent to him in appreciation for his years of teaching, thanking him for the years of service.
He began looking for it since Monday, and has looked the whole house over many times each day. I asked him to describe it for me, and he gave me a full description of color, size, and when he thinks he got it. Alas, he cannot find it because it simply exists only in his mind. I have even searched, thinking that perhaps I could find something that would suggest what he is seeking, like a certificate of appreciation (which I found, of course), but he says that no, they sent him a book and that he was busy with something when it came and just put it to one side and now he can't find it.
While I was looking through the bookcase in the living room (which he has searched several times each day), I ran across my two yearbooks from Carson-Newman College, and took time to leaf through them. I took a trip down memory lane and reread the loving and nice things that friends had written in them, and looked at the fresh young faces of the people that we were then, and reflected on the many changes that have come about through the years since. I closed the books and put them back on the shelf and came back into the present.
This week has been a busy one, not a lot of time devote to the use of the computer (including reading and posting blogs, or even facebook). I have been handstitching on our grandson's quilt, and am down to the last two squares. I have yet to check for threads that need clipping, and the decorative stitching on the binding, and the label to go onto it. It will probably be another week before I can launder and send it to his mom to see it firsthand and then she will send it on to him. Meals have had to be made, laundry done, showers taken, and all the other little day-to-day chores that take up the time.
Today we are planning on going into Knoxville to spend some time with family there and have our movie day. We finally have some really good weather to enjoy.. It is supposed to be close to 50 degrees out today. Yeay! No more snow for a few days at least. I have yet to have my breakfast, and I better get to shakin' because it is past 9 a.m. and I am beginning to get a little hungry. I was up at 7 a.m. I had the pleasure of an online chat with Teresa, our youngest. She was working on our income taxes (we've got people), and had some questions for me, before she left to go in to work for the day. It is always a pleasure to talk to my daughters. I yearn to see them more than I can do.
Well, that is about it for today. Much love to each of you, my friends and family. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Bye for now. More later.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Valentine's Day
Hey, Y'all,
Wishing each of you, my friends, family and all a Happy Heart-healthy day. We had some flurries while ago, but nothing to get excited over. It flew around a little and then quit. It has been a very quiet day.Gramps spent a major portion of the morning in bed and is watching the Winter Olympics. They do nothing for me, so I won't be doing any reporting on them.
I am planning on making a chocolate cream pie after while and then cleaning up the kitchen. I have been on my computer quite a bit today and of course am still lounging around in my gown and housecoat. Nobody cares what we wear on days when no one is coming in. Suits me just fine.
We had a really fun time yesterday with our neighbors. They came down and we had snacks and watched the movie, "Madison", which Gramps watched with my sister in law, Mae, while I took Imazo to the grocery store a few weeks ago. You may remember, I told about leaving the volume turned up, not realizing how loud it was and when we came back they told us that they couldn't figure out how to turn it down, and it near drove them nuts. At the end of the movie, there is a boat race and it was realllllly loud. Poor they!
For supper tomorrow I am planning on barbeque pork loin, corn pudding, spinach salad, yeast rolls, and chocolate pie. Yum! The pork loin will be put into the crock pot in the morning, and the corn pudding and rolls will cook at the same time, to be done when they arrive.
Well, not much else shaking around here, so this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you. More later, bye for now.
Wishing each of you, my friends, family and all a Happy Heart-healthy day. We had some flurries while ago, but nothing to get excited over. It flew around a little and then quit. It has been a very quiet day.Gramps spent a major portion of the morning in bed and is watching the Winter Olympics. They do nothing for me, so I won't be doing any reporting on them.
I am planning on making a chocolate cream pie after while and then cleaning up the kitchen. I have been on my computer quite a bit today and of course am still lounging around in my gown and housecoat. Nobody cares what we wear on days when no one is coming in. Suits me just fine.
We had a really fun time yesterday with our neighbors. They came down and we had snacks and watched the movie, "Madison", which Gramps watched with my sister in law, Mae, while I took Imazo to the grocery store a few weeks ago. You may remember, I told about leaving the volume turned up, not realizing how loud it was and when we came back they told us that they couldn't figure out how to turn it down, and it near drove them nuts. At the end of the movie, there is a boat race and it was realllllly loud. Poor they!
For supper tomorrow I am planning on barbeque pork loin, corn pudding, spinach salad, yeast rolls, and chocolate pie. Yum! The pork loin will be put into the crock pot in the morning, and the corn pudding and rolls will cook at the same time, to be done when they arrive.
Well, not much else shaking around here, so this is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. Much love to each of you. More later, bye for now.
Friday, February 12, 2010
More Winter Weather to Come?
Hey, Y'all,
Seems as though days this time of year are kind of like watching reruns on television. They all tend to be repeats of the days before. Ha. However, we were able to go to our friend's home on yesterday evening for supper and a game of dominoes. Judy and her sister, Marjorie, from Germany invited us to have supper at their mom's house. Marian, age 91 is their mom. So there were six of us, Judy, husband Gene, sister Marjorie, mother Marian, and Gramps and I. We had a great time, with lots of laughs.
Soon after I got home, I began sneezing, and spent most of the night doing so. It was horrible! My allergies were really kicking up so consequently, there was not a lot of sleep on my part. I finally got up at 6 a.m. and took a couple of benedryl, but by the time that we were ready to leave for the church to meet with the other seniors, I was feeling a little drowsy, but not too bad to drive to the church.
The seniors went to Calhoun's on the River Restaurant for a Valentine's luncheon. There was red everywhere (lots of red clothing) and lots of really good food!
There were 33 of us who went and of course we were each able to order whatever we chose. Gramps and I had one of our favorites, Southern Fried Catfish. Yum!
When we got back from Knoxville, and got back into our car, I went to the post office and sent off our tax stuff to our daughter, Teresa, who does our taxes each year for us. (Yes, we've got people!)We always appreciate the fact that she does this for us. Then I took Gramps home and went to Jefferson City to buy groceries. When I got back home, my neighbor's son, Mitch, came down and helped me carry in the groceries. After I put away the perishables, I lay down for a short rest (I was rather pooped) and then a couple of hours later I got up and fixed a light supper for Gramps and myself.
He is now in bed, and I am writing up my blog and watching some television. I will probably follow him in a little while. Tomorrow, we are having the neighbors down in the afternoon to watch a movie with us. We look forward to that.
I guess it is about time for me to stop "talking" for the evening. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.
Seems as though days this time of year are kind of like watching reruns on television. They all tend to be repeats of the days before. Ha. However, we were able to go to our friend's home on yesterday evening for supper and a game of dominoes. Judy and her sister, Marjorie, from Germany invited us to have supper at their mom's house. Marian, age 91 is their mom. So there were six of us, Judy, husband Gene, sister Marjorie, mother Marian, and Gramps and I. We had a great time, with lots of laughs.
Soon after I got home, I began sneezing, and spent most of the night doing so. It was horrible! My allergies were really kicking up so consequently, there was not a lot of sleep on my part. I finally got up at 6 a.m. and took a couple of benedryl, but by the time that we were ready to leave for the church to meet with the other seniors, I was feeling a little drowsy, but not too bad to drive to the church.
The seniors went to Calhoun's on the River Restaurant for a Valentine's luncheon. There was red everywhere (lots of red clothing) and lots of really good food!
There were 33 of us who went and of course we were each able to order whatever we chose. Gramps and I had one of our favorites, Southern Fried Catfish. Yum!
When we got back from Knoxville, and got back into our car, I went to the post office and sent off our tax stuff to our daughter, Teresa, who does our taxes each year for us. (Yes, we've got people!)We always appreciate the fact that she does this for us. Then I took Gramps home and went to Jefferson City to buy groceries. When I got back home, my neighbor's son, Mitch, came down and helped me carry in the groceries. After I put away the perishables, I lay down for a short rest (I was rather pooped) and then a couple of hours later I got up and fixed a light supper for Gramps and myself.
He is now in bed, and I am writing up my blog and watching some television. I will probably follow him in a little while. Tomorrow, we are having the neighbors down in the afternoon to watch a movie with us. We look forward to that.
I guess it is about time for me to stop "talking" for the evening. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
And Now the Results...
Hey, Y'all,
Yesterday, I went to the doctor's office to discuss the results of the tests that the doctor had me take. She told me that the bone x-rays were okay, and that she had been concerned over the possibility of my having multiple myeloma, but that I don't have that. She also told me that the report of the ct scan that I had done on last Thursday said that I had some air pockets in my liver, (I said "well, those should eventually go away on their own, shouldn't they?". She replied, "yes".) and that the report also said that the areas of liver abcess were improved over the last ct scan. She said she didn't know if there should be more drainage to take place and I said, "no, no! Don't want any more drains inserted anywhere."
She said that she was going to check with Dr. Wright in Nashville to see if they had any ct scans and blood work reports that she had no copies of, so that she could compare with the most recent ones. She also asked that I stop taking my cholesterol medicine for awhile to give the liver a chance to recuperate more. As you may know, cholesterol medication can be destructive to the liver and to the kidneys. Of course, she is also concerned over my anemia.
I am so thankful to the Lord that I have recovered so much as I have. I am thankful, too, that I have a doctor who is such a caring person, and who takes such good care of me.
Gramps and I watched a movie on Sunday that we had seen on one of our "movie days" in Knoxville. Apparently he had forgotten it, so I said, "why don't we watch it this afternoon?" (This was on Sunday, of course). I guess a few years ago, I might have said, "Oh, we have already seen that one!" but I have learned a lot recently about just going with the flow, and trying to take life easy and not make waves.
We had our neighbors down for supper last night, and had a lot of fun playing "Aggravation" after we ate. I learned something about cooking Irish potatoes when I was cooking yesterday. I made the mistake (yes, I do make them once in a while, ha) when I cut the potatoes up instead of leaving them whole. I was going to cook them before I left for the dr's appointment, and then finish them after I got back. Well, they began to mush up and stick to the bottom of the kettle, and the water got thick with starch in them.
When I got back home, I decided that I wasn't going to be able to make mashed potatoes out of them, so I took as much thickened water out of them as I could, and put them into a buttered casserole dish. First, however, I put a small can of evaporated milk into them, along with some salt, and then after I had stirred them up, I put half of them into the casserole dish, and then sprinkled some sharp cheddar on them, and put the remainder in on top and added some sharp cheddar to that, and melted some butter in a small bowl, added some plain bread crumbs to the melted butter and then sprinkled them on top of the casserole. I then baked it at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Yum!
We also had hamburgers with yeast rolls, and green beans. For dessert, we had some dried peach pinwheels which I had made on Sunday afternoon. Those were made just like the dried apple pinwheels that I described making a couple of weeks ago, except I left the raisins out of the peach ones.
Today is to be a dreary-looking day, I guess. They are predicting rain, with snow showers to follow, with little or no accumulation. I folded laundry this morning and put it away before I had breakfast, so it is all done, and that is fine. The kitchen is clean, because we loaded the dishwasher last night after supper (Laurie does that for me helping me clean up after supper. She is wonderful, just like a daughter to me!) and when they left to go home I turned on the dishwasher and then unloaded and put them away this morning.
Gramps is still in bed, and the radio in the kitchen is playing to no one, but I can hear it, so it is not so quiet in the house. When I get through here, I will be going into the living room to work on BJ's quilt for most of the day. I only lack six full squares and a part of one on which to finish hand stitching.
Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you. Bye for now. More later.
Yesterday, I went to the doctor's office to discuss the results of the tests that the doctor had me take. She told me that the bone x-rays were okay, and that she had been concerned over the possibility of my having multiple myeloma, but that I don't have that. She also told me that the report of the ct scan that I had done on last Thursday said that I had some air pockets in my liver, (I said "well, those should eventually go away on their own, shouldn't they?". She replied, "yes".) and that the report also said that the areas of liver abcess were improved over the last ct scan. She said she didn't know if there should be more drainage to take place and I said, "no, no! Don't want any more drains inserted anywhere."
She said that she was going to check with Dr. Wright in Nashville to see if they had any ct scans and blood work reports that she had no copies of, so that she could compare with the most recent ones. She also asked that I stop taking my cholesterol medicine for awhile to give the liver a chance to recuperate more. As you may know, cholesterol medication can be destructive to the liver and to the kidneys. Of course, she is also concerned over my anemia.
I am so thankful to the Lord that I have recovered so much as I have. I am thankful, too, that I have a doctor who is such a caring person, and who takes such good care of me.
Gramps and I watched a movie on Sunday that we had seen on one of our "movie days" in Knoxville. Apparently he had forgotten it, so I said, "why don't we watch it this afternoon?" (This was on Sunday, of course). I guess a few years ago, I might have said, "Oh, we have already seen that one!" but I have learned a lot recently about just going with the flow, and trying to take life easy and not make waves.
We had our neighbors down for supper last night, and had a lot of fun playing "Aggravation" after we ate. I learned something about cooking Irish potatoes when I was cooking yesterday. I made the mistake (yes, I do make them once in a while, ha) when I cut the potatoes up instead of leaving them whole. I was going to cook them before I left for the dr's appointment, and then finish them after I got back. Well, they began to mush up and stick to the bottom of the kettle, and the water got thick with starch in them.
When I got back home, I decided that I wasn't going to be able to make mashed potatoes out of them, so I took as much thickened water out of them as I could, and put them into a buttered casserole dish. First, however, I put a small can of evaporated milk into them, along with some salt, and then after I had stirred them up, I put half of them into the casserole dish, and then sprinkled some sharp cheddar on them, and put the remainder in on top and added some sharp cheddar to that, and melted some butter in a small bowl, added some plain bread crumbs to the melted butter and then sprinkled them on top of the casserole. I then baked it at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Yum!
We also had hamburgers with yeast rolls, and green beans. For dessert, we had some dried peach pinwheels which I had made on Sunday afternoon. Those were made just like the dried apple pinwheels that I described making a couple of weeks ago, except I left the raisins out of the peach ones.
Today is to be a dreary-looking day, I guess. They are predicting rain, with snow showers to follow, with little or no accumulation. I folded laundry this morning and put it away before I had breakfast, so it is all done, and that is fine. The kitchen is clean, because we loaded the dishwasher last night after supper (Laurie does that for me helping me clean up after supper. She is wonderful, just like a daughter to me!) and when they left to go home I turned on the dishwasher and then unloaded and put them away this morning.
Gramps is still in bed, and the radio in the kitchen is playing to no one, but I can hear it, so it is not so quiet in the house. When I get through here, I will be going into the living room to work on BJ's quilt for most of the day. I only lack six full squares and a part of one on which to finish hand stitching.
Well, that is about it for today. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. Much love to each of you. Bye for now. More later.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Pants on the Ground
Hey, Y'all,
What a busy day this has been! It began at 5:15 a.m. when I got up and had an early breakfast so that 4 hours later, I could drink the barium sulfate vanilla shake. Yum! (Not). By 6 a.m. I had eaten a serving of grits and that was yum.
A little later, I was checking my blog and my facebook pages, and then playing a few rounds of Faerie Solitaire game on my computer. (my latest addiction). Then it was on to taking a shower and getting ready for my test appointment coming at 10:45. After I got dressed, I decided to pass some more time by working on BJ's quilt. At 10:00 a.m. I drank the 'stuff' that was required, and went back to sewing for about 30 minutes. By 10:45, I was sitting in front of one of the ladies who checks patients in for outpatient testing. After answering her questions and getting a patient identification band on my wrist, I headed back toward radiology admissions desk, where I filled out another paper, telling my medical history. You know they don't give you a lot of space to write down all the surgeries you have had and medications as well.
When the radiologist came out for me, she took me back to have a ct scan, which is a piece of cake, and not a problem. Then I went to another room and had a chest x-ray, followed by a sectional scanning of my bones, beginning with the neck. I had one of those gowns that covered me almost to the knees. However, I still had my blue jeans on and when it got to my abdomen area, I asked if they wanted me to slip my jeans down so the zipper and brads wouldn't show on the x-ray. Yes, they did, so I slipped them down to my knees, and each time I moved they slipped a little farther down.
When they got to x-raying my knees, I began laughing. They wondered what I thought was so funny, and I began singing, "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, don't you look silly with your pants on the ground." Of course, you know that is the song that a fellow made up and was singing on American Idol a few weeks ago. Well, they began laughing too, and pretty soon, it was just hilarious. Yeah, I know, I am a silly person, and just can't help entertaining where ever I go. It is in my blood or something.
By the time I was through with the tests, it was getting on towards 1:00 in the afternoon. I left the hospital and went to Walmart and bought a few things, among them a new heavy duty Kitchen -Aid mixer which I have been thinking about for sometime now. From there, I stopped at Food City and bought a few groceries. On then, to Taco Bell for some fast food where I bought one of my favorites, a taco salad. Yum. By the time I got home it had been 8 hours since my measly breakfast. Gramps had just gotten up and I fixed his breakfast for him, and then he got dressed to go get our pictures made for the church directory. After I finished my taco salad, then I got dressed.
We left the house about 3:55 and when we arrivecd at the church, we registered and were greeted by friends and pastor. We had a great time with the photographer, Matt, and had our pictures made and later, the assistant, Greg, helped us make our choices for the pictures we wanted. You will get to see the results in about 4 or 5 weeks from now.
Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, but we are planning on going into Knoxville for our movie day, anyway. After all, we have to eat, don't we? I guess it will be the Cracker Barrel. I am taking a baseball game movie called, "Talent for the Game". I have previewed the first part of it and it looks promising.
Right now, we are here at home and I am fighting going to sleep because there are some good tevee shows that I don't want to miss. I could nap between now (7:30) and 8:00. I can fold my hands over my belly, lean back in my computer chair and sleep for 30 minutes. I think that would do it till bedtime maybe.
Welll, that is about it for right now. Much love to each of you. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Bye for now.
What a busy day this has been! It began at 5:15 a.m. when I got up and had an early breakfast so that 4 hours later, I could drink the barium sulfate vanilla shake. Yum! (Not). By 6 a.m. I had eaten a serving of grits and that was yum.
A little later, I was checking my blog and my facebook pages, and then playing a few rounds of Faerie Solitaire game on my computer. (my latest addiction). Then it was on to taking a shower and getting ready for my test appointment coming at 10:45. After I got dressed, I decided to pass some more time by working on BJ's quilt. At 10:00 a.m. I drank the 'stuff' that was required, and went back to sewing for about 30 minutes. By 10:45, I was sitting in front of one of the ladies who checks patients in for outpatient testing. After answering her questions and getting a patient identification band on my wrist, I headed back toward radiology admissions desk, where I filled out another paper, telling my medical history. You know they don't give you a lot of space to write down all the surgeries you have had and medications as well.
When the radiologist came out for me, she took me back to have a ct scan, which is a piece of cake, and not a problem. Then I went to another room and had a chest x-ray, followed by a sectional scanning of my bones, beginning with the neck. I had one of those gowns that covered me almost to the knees. However, I still had my blue jeans on and when it got to my abdomen area, I asked if they wanted me to slip my jeans down so the zipper and brads wouldn't show on the x-ray. Yes, they did, so I slipped them down to my knees, and each time I moved they slipped a little farther down.
When they got to x-raying my knees, I began laughing. They wondered what I thought was so funny, and I began singing, "Pants on the ground, pants on the ground, don't you look silly with your pants on the ground." Of course, you know that is the song that a fellow made up and was singing on American Idol a few weeks ago. Well, they began laughing too, and pretty soon, it was just hilarious. Yeah, I know, I am a silly person, and just can't help entertaining where ever I go. It is in my blood or something.
By the time I was through with the tests, it was getting on towards 1:00 in the afternoon. I left the hospital and went to Walmart and bought a few things, among them a new heavy duty Kitchen -Aid mixer which I have been thinking about for sometime now. From there, I stopped at Food City and bought a few groceries. On then, to Taco Bell for some fast food where I bought one of my favorites, a taco salad. Yum. By the time I got home it had been 8 hours since my measly breakfast. Gramps had just gotten up and I fixed his breakfast for him, and then he got dressed to go get our pictures made for the church directory. After I finished my taco salad, then I got dressed.
We left the house about 3:55 and when we arrivecd at the church, we registered and were greeted by friends and pastor. We had a great time with the photographer, Matt, and had our pictures made and later, the assistant, Greg, helped us make our choices for the pictures we wanted. You will get to see the results in about 4 or 5 weeks from now.
Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, but we are planning on going into Knoxville for our movie day, anyway. After all, we have to eat, don't we? I guess it will be the Cracker Barrel. I am taking a baseball game movie called, "Talent for the Game". I have previewed the first part of it and it looks promising.
Right now, we are here at home and I am fighting going to sleep because there are some good tevee shows that I don't want to miss. I could nap between now (7:30) and 8:00. I can fold my hands over my belly, lean back in my computer chair and sleep for 30 minutes. I think that would do it till bedtime maybe.
Welll, that is about it for right now. Much love to each of you. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for now. More later. Bye for now.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Winter Pic and Catch-up
Hey, Y'all,
This has been a laid-back week for us. Believe it or not, I haven't left the confines of our little red brick home since last week, when I got home from the doctor's office. Oh, wow! A whole week inside...how have I stood it? Monday morning, I went out and took a picture of the little cherry tree that I can see from my kitchen window. The ice that had encased its limbs was so beautiful, I just had to have a picture of it.
On Monday, for supper I prepared parmesan chicken wings, baked sweet potatoes, scalloped tomatoes, and yeast rolls. It was a challenge to get it all ready at the same time, because all of those items were baked in the oven. Earlier that day, I buttered several pieces of light bread and toasted it till it was brown. Later in the day, about 2:30, I opened 3 cans of no salt tomatoes, added some oregano and dried parsley, and garlic powder to them. I chopped a small onion. Into a 2 quart baking dish, I crumbled half of the toasted bread, poured half of the tomato mixture on it, sprinkled half of the chopped onions, added a layer of grated american cheese, then repeated the process. I fried 4 slices of bacon till it was crispy, and drained it on a paper towel. I set the dish aside.
At 3 p.m. I began making the yeast rolls and had them set aside to rise by 3:30. That was when I scrubbed the sweet potatoes and greased them with solid shortening and put them into the pan and I put the sweet potatoes in at 4 p.m. and baked them at 450 degrees for an hour, then took turned the heat down to 400, and at 5:00 removed the potatoes and put them on the stove eye that the heat from the oven comes up through and covered them with aluminum foil to keep them hot.
Then I sat down to rest awhile and read. At 4:30, I began the process of preparing the chicken wings for baking. On Sunday, I had cut them apart, saving the wing tips to make chicken soup with at a later date (putting them into the freezer), and put the other parts into a marinade of Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce in a plastic ziploc bag in the refrigerator. I took the wings out of the fridge and prepared the coating mix of bread crumbs, grated parmesan, and sage, dried parsley, and oregano. I took a large baking pan and lined it with aluminum foil, greased it with buttery crisco, and coated the chicken wings with the coating mix, and laid them in the baking pan. Then I sprayed the tops of them with buttery Pam spray. At 5:00, I put the chicken wings and the scalloped tomatoes in to cook. I crumbled the crispy bacon and put it on the scalloped tomatoes when they were finished cooking.
Then at 5:40, I put the rolls in to cook and put them in on the upper rack. So it all came out just fine on time by the time we were ready to sit down to eat. We had a small salad for the green stuff and enjoyed it all. We had brownies for dessert. Yum!
Tuesday and today, things have been very quiet, and I have been doing some more sewing on my grandson, BJ's quilt. I now have only 8 squares to complete, and then the decorative stitching around the edge. Tomorrow is my testing to be done at the local hospital. I get to drink a delicious vanilla barium shake an hour before the ct scan, and nothing to eat for four hours before. I intend to be up by 5 so I can have some toast and egg at that time. The test is at 11. OOPS. I just remembered I have to fill out a paper to take with me. I'll do that later this evening or early in the morning. I will carry off the trash in the morning on my way in. I also intend to go to the Walmart tomorrow and do some shopping.
Tomorrow promises to be a busy day, since Gramps and I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon to have our picture made for the church directory. We are planning on going in on Friday for our movie day with my two sisters-in-law.
I did get some laundry done and put away this week, and more is in the washer waiting to be put into the dryer. I got up this morning and made breakfast (ham-for Gramps-, bacon-for me, eggs, biscuits, and a little bit of gravy). It was good, but I ate mine alone. He was not anxious to get up, and I fixed his for him when he got up around 11:30.
Well, it is getting close to prime time for television and American Idol will be on in an hour. I guess I'll head back into the living room to spend some time with Gramps. A new member has been added to the family. Mark and Allie's oldest daughter, Tanya, and her husband, Brian have welcomed a new son, Isaac Aaron, born yesterday. Isaac has two older brothers, Kevin 4, and Adam 2. We are so glad that Isaac is here, and mother and son are doing fine. Allie is out there in California with them. Congratulations to all of them!
This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for today. More later. Much love to each of you. Bye for now.
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