Hot and dry Saturday…

It is to be another warm humid day with only a meager hope for some rain.  I  talked with my sis in WV this morning.  They had severe thunderstorms yesterday evening and had some damage to their roof.  They did however get some much needed rain.

This is the kind of weather where I become lethargic.  I don’t have the energy or want to accomplish anything.  Yesterday I did force myself to clean the bathroom. 

*****

le·thar·gic/ləˈTHärjik/

Adjective:

Affected by lethargy; sluggish and apathetic: "I felt tired and a little lethargic".

Synonyms:

sleepy - drowsy – torpid

*****

And another recipe for a hot day.

Layered 24 Hour Lettuce Salad

I love this salad but I hate to make it. Whenever we would have a family get together I would always ask my daughter to bring it.

• 1/2 head of lettuce, rinsed and patted dry then shredded
• whole green pepper (seeded and diced)
• 2 stalks celery (diced)
• 1 small onion (diced)
• frozen green peas about 1 cup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 8 ounce package shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup crumbled cooked bacon (cooked crisp)
• Seasoned croutons

Use 13X9 glass dish. Put the lettuce in first. Layer the next ingredients in order given. Top with the shredded cheese and the crumbled bacon. Mix the sour cream and mayo and spread over the ingredients in the dish. Top with the seasoned croutons. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

*****

Keep cool!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Heavenly Orange Fluff Recipe…

Heavenly Orange Fluff

"Our Daily Bread" cookbook with recipes from the ladies of the First United Methodist Church, Champaign IL. 1982

• 2  small packages orange Jell-O
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup juice from pineapple and mandarin oranges, heated to boiling
• 1 small can frozen orange juice
• 1 20 oz.  can crushed pineapple
• 2 cans mandarin oranges

Use 13X9 pan.

 

In large bowl, mix Jell-O, boiling water and juice from pineapple and mandarin oranges that you have heated to boiling. Add pineapple, mandarin oranges and the frozen undiluted orange juice. Put in the 13X9 pan. Chill until thick, then add topping.

Topping:

1 small package lemon instant pudding mixed with 1 cup of cold milk. Fold in 2 cups of Cool Whip. Spread on top of Jell-O salad.

********************************************************************************

I am sharing another recipe from my recipe site as it its so hot here my brain isn’t functioning properly.

I did go out for just a little while this morning and went to 3 yard sales where I found a few books and another old cook booklet,

Have a wonderful weekend, be cool and stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Too Hot to Trot…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_Hot_ta_Trot
 
Since it is going to be a blazing hot day I decided to share a recipe with you all from the recipe blog that I have on wordpress.  http://bethmariesrecipes.wordpress.com/
*********

Drop Biscuits

This recipe is from the Betty Crocker cookbook that I received as a wedding shower gift over 50 years ago. I have mentioned before how it is held together now with duct tape. I made these biscuits when Jim and I were just starting out with nothing but each other.

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Mix together and cut in finely 6 tablespoons of shortening.
Stir in 1 cup of milk. Drop from spoon onto greased pan or into greased muffin cups.
Have oven preheated to 450 degrees. Bake about 10 minutes.

This is exactly how the recipe reads in the cookbook.

This recipe consistently gets the most hits each day of any recipe I have posted on my blog.

**********
Stay cool you all!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Preparing…

for the heat wave that is headed our way.  Actual temperatures today to reach mid 90s, actual temps to reach 102 tomorrow with heat indices to reach 110 degrees tomorrow.  I am thinking of my Australian friend who wrote in her blog yesterday that they had snow.  I am OK with snow so long as it doesn’t impair the driving conditions in any way.  Ice is even worse.

My nephew Dan standing in the snow behind his house in northern Illinois February 2011.

SO! I am well equipped with food and entertainment and saying thanks every minute that the AC keeps running.

I have a roast with carrots, potatoes and onions going in the crockpot right now.  I think when it is done I will fix some cornbread to go with it.  I had one errand to run this morning and I zipped right through that.

I hope you all have a great day!  Stay safe, be happy, and keep cool, except for my Australian friend, to her I say keep warm.

Beth

Whew, all done…

The guys came yesterday morning around 10:30 and said they were finished with a job and could they get started early.  In my best Mae West imitation, I said come on in boys!

Seriously, these were two of the nicest young men.  They were extremely courteous.  I enjoyed talking to them as they were working and they fixed everything just as I requested.  I now have a corded phone in addition to my cordless ones.  Some information is not really safe to give out over a cordless phone.

 

Jonathan and Zach were very professional.  Note the booties on Jonathan’s feet.  Those booties were put on each time they came in the house and taken off when they went outdoors.  They were very careful to clean up as they went along.  This is a local company out of Peoria.  Now if I want customer service it will be a local call and hopefully they will all be able to speak English.  PLUS, and this is a biggie for me, service calls are free unless they are coming to install something new in your home.  Comcast charged for every time they put a foot in your door.  I am still cringing from the poor customer service I got from Comcast last week.

I have two boxes of stuff to return to Comcast this morning and I will be leaving soon to do that.  I hope you all have a great day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly…

When I was working at an AFB in the 80s one of my good friends there was Marie.  She was in charge of the computer room in Base Supply where we both worked.  She was a civilian employee as I was but was formerly in the military.  Marie’s nickname was Dilly.  I don’t know the reason why.  That is just what everyone called her.  Her military boss was a SMSGT.  I won’t give last names but his first name was George.  He was about the same age as I was and to tease Marie every now and then we would gang up on her and start singing Lavender Blue Dilly Dilly.  I was listening to my iPod yesterday afternoon while I was reading.  I have almost 4000 songs on the iPod and have it hooked up to a Bose speaker system.  Last fall I started playing the songs in alphabetical order and it has finally reached the L’s.  When I heard Lavender Blue I started thinking of Dilly.  Her husband was retired from the military and when our AFB closed in the early 90s she took a lateral transfer to an AFB in Texas to work till time for her retirement.  Now I am thinking about Dilly and wondering what happened to her.  I hate losing touch with old friends.
 
*****************
lat·er·al (ltr-l)
adj.
1. Of, relating to, or situated at or on the side.
2. Of or constituting a change within an organization or a hierarchy to a position at a similar level, as in salary or responsibility, to the one being left: made a lateral move within the company.
3. Linguistics Of, relating to, or being a sound produced by breath passing along one or both sides of the tongue.
n.
1. A lateral part, projection, passage, or appendage.
2. Football A lateral pass.
3. Linguistics A lateral sound, such as (l).
*****************
 
I forgot to say that George and I could do a fairly good rendition of a song called ‘The Winner’ written by Shel Silverstein and sung by Bobby Bare that was popular about that  time too.  Oh good grief, here I am reminiscing about the good old days when I was working.  LOL  Actually while I was working in Base Supply it wasn’t bad, it was when I ended up working in Officer Performance that it began to be a miserable career and I couldn’t wait to retire.
 
My cable/internet/telephone is being switched over this afternoon so I will be off line for several hours.  If I miss any of you I will catch up with you tomorrow.
 
Stay safe and be happy!!
 
Beth

Lightning and thunder…

but only a drop of rain.  Yes, in the time it took me to get my camera and go outside the lightning, thunder and the 2 drops of rain were gone.  It has become very dark outdoors  now so maybe we will get a couple of drops more.  Lack of rain has become a serious threat to the farmers here in central Illinois.  the corn and bean crops are beginning to stress.



Looking out at the cemetery behind me this morning and listening to the thunder.



One of my tomato plants is looking better.  The other plant looks very sad and I think it is on its last leg.

I bought two tomatoes at the store the other day and yesterday I had a BLT.  Not bad but can’t touch the taste of a real tomato.

I braved the lightning and the one drop of rain to go to the pharmacy this morning to pick up some prescriptions.  And now I have some chicken on cooking for my lunch.I hope you all have a great day.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Recipe find..

I was looking through one of my garage sale purchases, a cook booklet from Life services Network of Illinois.  The recipes are contributed by residents in different nursing homes in Illinois.  As I am looking through this book I am thinking, most of the folks contributing recipes are most likely much older than I.  I have a friend in a nursing home in my old city.  I know first hand how lonely these people get and how much they appreciate a visit from someone.

The following is a recipe from this book submitted by Nora Boggs, Piatt County Nursing Home, Monticello, Illinois.

I chose this recipe because my mom used to do the same thing if there was ever any left over cornbread.  With 8 kids this didn’t happen too often.

******************

Fried Corn Bread

This was one of my favorite breakfasts during the depression days and still is.  Break leftover cornbread into pieces and add to skillet that has oleo or bacon grease in it.  Cover with milk; season with a little salt and cook until the milk disappears.  Serve plain, with  butter, ketchup or syrup.  ~ Nora Boggs ~

*******************

I couldn’t find a date in this cook booklet but there were some coupons in the back which expired in 1995 so I am guessing this book is close to 20 years old.  Ms Nora is probably  someone’s guardian angel now.  Dear Nora, thank you for making me think of my mom.

And speaking of my mom who has been gone a long time now; she was always sending me poems and quotes through the mail when Jim and I were first married.  She sent me the following quote.

“The difference between ourselves and others is that we don’t tell half of what we know while they don’t know half of what they tell.”  ~ Josh Billings ~ 

I really like that quote.  Hits the nail right on the head as my daddy would say.

I hope you all have a great weekend.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Backside of Friday and finishing the Comcast Rant…

I went out with my daughter today to touch the morning.  We did the garage sale route.  Not much there but a few old cookbooks that I picked up.  I love to look through them and as I have noted before, once in awhile I fix a recipe from one of the old cookbooks.
Before coming home we stopped by Wal*Mart so that I could by a new corded telephone. 

 Because…

I did it.  I had already gone by the local Comcast Office yesterday morning and paid the coming month’s bill.  Afterwards the thought came to me that I am tired of fighting with Comcast.  Their customer service is the pits.  Monday afternoon I am having my service changed over to ITV3.  The price is the same but with more channels and I can have corded phones in my house again.  Comcast has the computer, phone and cable all running through the same hookup.  Comcast telephone service is sporadic at times.

**********

spo·rad·ic/spəˈradik/

Adjective:
Occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated.
Synonyms:
occasional
**********
I will probably have to fight to get back my money I paid Comcast but that is OK.  I just want to be rid of them. They are like vultures, raising the price of something every month and of course the final straw was the huge overcharge on the bill I received this week.  And you know what…it is like a weight off my back to think that I won’t be fighting with them anymore.
It is very pleasant here today at 78 degrees right now.  While I was out this morning there wasn’t a cloud in the bright blue sky.
My neighbors next door and two doors down are switching  from Comcast too! 
See, I have extended my Comcast rant from Tuesday through Friday and now I am  letting go of it.  I hope that Mark  is reading this.   Goodbye Mark!
 
Beth

Thursday and…

it is a zip a dee doo dah day.  A cold front is set to come through this morning, hopefully bringing with it cooler temperatures and as much as a quarter inch of rain.  A quarter of an inch is better than no rain at all.  I spoke to my brother yesterday who lives close to St.Louis (Go Cardinals!) and he was telling me that the hail storm that they had about 3 weeks ago  had golf ball to baseball sized hail.  Both of their cars  suffered several thousand dollars damage and the roof of the house and a shed in the back had to have new shingles put on.  Now, I want rain but no hail storm please.

I guess things are straightened out with Comcast  for one month at least.  I received an email from them yesterday.  Quote:

“Thank you for contacting our Executive Care Office regarding your Comcast service. We appreciate your feedback and always invite the opportunity to improve our customer service experience.

Please be assured the service you received is not indicative of what we strive for and we have communicated your concerns to the proper departments to ensure that steps are taken to prevent these types of occurrences from happening in the future.

Our records indicate that the billing issue was resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience and frustration this may have caused.”

That is OK.  I accept their apology but if there is anything the least bit off on my next bill there won’t be any apology big enough to satisfy me.

I am heading out to Bergner’s this morning to check out their clearance sales.  I may do some Christmas shopping.  I also would love to get to Kohls too.

I hope you all are having a great day.  Remember, the grass is not always greener on the far side of the hill.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Comcast Rant Follow-up…

The ladies at the local Comcast office here were helpful as always.  They tried to figure out what was wrong.  In the late afternoon I received a call from a young man with Comcast who assured me that he had found the problem and fixed it.  We shall see.  I hope it is fixed because I am so disgusted with Comcast.  I did find out that Comcast has over 100,000 workers here in the US and they do outsource some work when they are flooded with calls.  I am waiting to see if my problem is actually fixed.  I will let you all know tomorrow morning.

I don’t have much time this morning as I have an appointment at the hospital for a test.

A note for Bertie in Washington.  Get a telephone with an answering machine on it and hook that up to your computer.  Turn the answer machine on the phone on.  Set the answer machine to answer on no more than 4 rings. This will override Comcast’s answering system which I agree with you is the pits.  Also  if you have Comcast email you can click on voice there and see who has called you and listen to any msgs they have left.   This is what I do and it works for me.

I hope you all have a good day.  It is going to be hot here again, in the mid 90s today.  Oh Well it is the first day of summer.

Beth

Comcast rant on a Tuesday…

I know that a great many companies have outsourced their communication centers to a foreign country.  I am wondering if Comcast has done that.   I know these folks in a foreign country answering the phone for a United States company are just trying to earn a living and I don’t fault them for that.   My thoughts are if you are going to handle business from a United States company, the very least you can do is have a good grasp of the English language.

I had a huge overcharge on my bill from Comcast that I received in the mail yesterday.  A call to Comcast eventually got me to the billing center after a several minute hold.  The first person that I spoke to was Marcella.  She spoke so fast that I couldn’t understand a thing she was saying.  I would ask her to speak slowly and she would for a second or two and then speed up like she had a flight to catch.  After about half an hour on the phone trying to get through to her I asked to speak to her supervisor.  Another hold of several minutes before Nancy came on the line.  Nancy didn’t speak so fast but she had such an accent that she was hard to understand.  I finally hung up with the matter unresolved.  I will go to the Comcast Center here in town this morning and see if they can get it straightened out.  I am again thoroughly disgusted with Comcast!!

Call it intervention of some kind, probably not divine, my door bell rang just as I was getting myself calmed down from talking to Comcast.  It was the ITV3 guy who is with another cable company here in town.  Anyway, I told him to come back in a couple of days because if this doesn’t get straightened out ASAP they will have another customer.  There are a lot of people here in Pekin who have already switched to this company and are very well satisfied.

And that is enough ranting for today.  Sorry I couldn’t wait until official rant Wednesday to unload on this.  I will give an update of my visit to Comcast on tomorrow’s blog.

Have a great day!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Monday Morning Coming Down…

I am up bright and early this morning, stripping the bed and getting laundry going.  It is  to be a scorcher today with a high in the mid 90s with winds gusting as high as 40 miles an hour.  Now that is typical Illinois weather for you.  A nice hot humid summer is to be expected.  This year we had a nice hot March with several days approaching 90 which is not usual weather. 

As soon as I finish this post I have to make a Kroger run.  I am out of bananas which are a critical part of my diet. 

I finished cleaning over the weekend. Since that is all finished  I will crank up the AC and settle down with a good book.  I am a great fan of murder mysteries.  I love John Sandford.  He is my favorite followed by Phillip Margolin.  I love Linda Howard too.  I read 3 of her books last week.  I guess you got the picture, I love to read and have since I was a small child.  I actually rank reading above surfing the net.

It is about time to close this off and finish the laundry and head to the store.  I hope you all have a great week.  Stay safe and be happy!

Beth

Happy Father’s Day…

to all of the fathers out there.  I am missing my ‘daddy’ today.  He has been gone a long time but I will never forget him.  Nobody else in my lifetime has ever called me Boogie.  (Thank heaven).  Daddy had pet names for all five of his girls.  My oldest sis was called Mutt because she was very short.  My next older sis was called Jeff.  I think in those days there was a comedy team named Mutt and Jeff.    A Google search just confirmed for me that they were comic strip characters.  My sis older than me was called Hezzie.  If you are checking out these links you are finding out that my dad had a great sense of humor.  I won’t mention what daddy’s pet name was for my only remaining sister.  The number one reason is I can’t remember it.  Rae, if you are reading this please refresh my memory.  

************************************************************************

We had thunderstorms roll through here last night.  The weather alert went off so many times that I finally shut it off until I went to bed.



Those weather warning radios are great to have but they sound just like a siren when they go off.  Even with all of the activity the rain total didn’t amount to much.  We are really getting desperate for rain.

I hope you all have a great day.  If your dad is still living give him a hug from Boogie.  And…you all stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie…

I love looking at old cook books.  Occasionally I will fix a recipe from one of them.  On my recipe site when I first started it in 2007 on Windows Live Spaces I made mention of the fact that I learned to cook from a Betty Crocker cookbook that I received as a wedding gift.  Looking back I must say it was the best wedding present that Jim and I received.  My greatest claim to cooking fame at that time was fixing Kraft Macaroni and Cheese from the blue box.  Yep!  they had Kraft mac and cheese in the 50s.

OK, that is enough of the reminiscing.  Yesterday at a garage sale I found some Pillsbury Bake-Off cook booklets for 25 cents each.  One of them was really great.  It featured Bake-Off winners from 1949 through to the 90s.  One recipe  caught my eye because of the zucchini recipes that Nellie has been posting on her blog recently.  This recipe is for Nellie who is having a bonanza harvest of zucchini this season.

The 1980 Bake-Off winner was Millicent Caplan from Florida.  Her recipe follows:
Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie

• 4 cups thinly sliced zucchini
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 cups shredded Muenster or mozzarella cheese
• 1 (8 ounce) can Pillsbury refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees  In large skillet over medium-high heat cook the zucchini and onions in the margarine until tender.  Stir in parsley flakes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano.  In large bowl, combine eggs and cheese; mix well.  Stir in cooked vegetable mixture
2. Separate dough into 8 triangles.  Place in ungreased 10 inch pie pan or 11 inch quiche pan; press over bottom and up sides to form crust.  Firmly press perforations to seal.  spread crust with mustard.  Poor egg mixture evenly into crust –lined pan.
3. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 – 22 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

TIP:  Cover edges of crust with strips of foil during last 10 minutes of baking if necessary to prevent excessive browning.
Back in the days when I was cooking everything from scratch I had all of the mentioned spices.  I don’t keep all of them now, no reason too.  This recipe does sound good and I would love to taste it.
*********************************
Stay safe and be happy!!
Beth

Finally Friday…

www.babyblues.com  written by Jerry Scott and illustrated by Rick Kirkman

***********

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Thursday and…

it is bright and sunny this morning.  It is 60 degrees right now and to get to the mid 80s.  I have a doctor appointment so that will take care of the morning.

It is afternoon now and still bright and sunny and the temp is 82 right now to reach into the upper 80s with extremely hot weather forecast for the weekend.

I am home from my doctor appointment which was uneventful except for some lab work which is to be expected and is nothing new.  My daughter and I ate at the Olive Garden.  I love the food there, especially the chicken soup with the little dumplings in it and the bread sticks are delicious.

We cross the McCluggage Bridge over the Illinois River on my way to my doctor appointment.  All pics I try to take of this out of a moving car going the speed limit are not any good.

There were lots of beautiful flowers at the clinic.

 

 

The last shot is of one of my tomato plants.  Notice how the leaves are curling.  I think the container is too small.  Or maybe I fed the poor baby too much miracle gro.  Considering everything, I guess it is a wonder it is still alive.

Time to wind this down and see what the rest of you have been up to.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Movin’ On Wednesday…

The week is half gone.  Where it went I have no idea.  Since I moved here the days, weeks and months have all run together in one chaotic mixture of hospital, emergency room, doctor appointments, etc.  Sometimes when I stop and think I am amazed that I have lived here over 2 years.  But I am able to get out of bed each morning and I am ever thankful for that.

Adj.
1.
chaotic - lacking a visible order or organization

helter-skelter

disorganised, disorganized - lacking order or methodical arrangement or function; "a disorganized enterprise"; "a thousand pages of muddy and disorganized prose"; "she was too disorganized to be an agreeable roommate"

2.
chaotic - completely unordered and unpredictable and confusing

disorderly

wild - marked by extreme lack of restraint or control;

chaotic - of or relating to a sensitive dependence on initial conditions

 

I helped my daughter wash and wax my car this morning.  Actually I did more watching than working as she cleaned and vacuumed  the inside of the car.  I did apply the wax and wiped it off except for the top of the car.  Reason being as my daddy used to say, that I am too short in the britches.  lol  Actually I am 5’ 4 1/2’  which is not as short as some.   I do not climb around on ladders anymore.

The drought is taking its toll on my pitiful little tomato plants.  Or maybe the containers I have them in are not big enough.  Something??

I hope you are all having a decent day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Thank you Pembrokeshire Lass..

I received some lovely gifts in the afternoon mail yesterday.  Thank you to Joan for these. http://pembrokeshirelass.blogspot.com/   Everything is beautiful and I love them all.

 

The light wasn’t good in my living room this morning so the pics aren’t very good.  If you click on them they will get larger.

The rain yesterday amounted to only a trace so we are still desperate for rain here.  It is much cooler and sunny today with a high in the 70s.  My favorite kind of weather.

This is a torn up week.  I have an appointment for a haircut this morning and Thursday morning another doctor appointment.  Then Friday is garage sale day so I guess I will not get back to the down and out cleaning until the weekend.

My niece came over for lunch yesterday.  I fixed chicken Alfredo and  it was really good.  I cheat and use the Alfredo sauce in a jar and the packaged fettuccini.  I hope I spelled that all correctly.  Help me out here my Boston friend with the Italian heritage.  Or is that even an Italian dish??  I don’t know and I feel too lazy to Google it this morning.

I need to stop by and visit as many of you as I can before it is time for me to leave.  I hope this is a good day for us all. 

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Miraculous Monday…

mi·rac·u·lous/məˈrakyələs/

Adjective:

1. Occurring through divine or supernatural intervention.
2. Highly improbable and extraordinary and bringing very welcome consequences: "our miraculous escape".

Synonyms:

wonderful - marvellous - marvelous - wondrous

Now why in the world would I call Monday miraculous?  It is raining and we are rather desperate for rain here right now.  So even though I have to get out and run some errands I am very glad to see the rain. 

I have been moving along very nicely with the late Spring cleaning.  I have all of the canned goods organized.  It was quite a chore because I keep forgetting there is only me and try to keep enough of everything on hand to feed an army.  This chore took me a couple of hours, but well worth it.   I opened the cabinet doors this morning and just smiled.  Everything looks so well organized.  I am on a roll now and I won’t stop until I am finished.  I am leaving the heating pad right beside my chair so it is handy.

I have to stop for a minute and check the laundry.  Don’t go away as I will be right back.  OK!  I’m back long enough to wish you all a miraculous week.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

I Won’t Take Less Than Your Love…

"How much do I owe you?" said the husband to his wife,
"For standing beside me through the hard years of my life.
"Shall I bring you diamonds, shall I buy you furs?
"Say the word and it's yours.

And his wife said: "I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the riches of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"How much do I owe you?" to the mother said the son.
"For all that you have taught me in the days that I was young.
"Shall I bring expensive blankets to cast upon your bed?
"And a pillow for to rest your weary head."

And the mother said: "I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the comforts of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"How much do I owe you?" said the man to his Lord.
"For giving me this day and every day that's gone before.
"Shall I build a temple, shall I make a sacrifice?
"Tell me Lord and I will pay the price."

And the Lord said: "I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the treasures of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."

"I won't take less than your love, sweet love.
"No, I won't take less than your love.
"All the treasures of the world could never be enough,
"And I won't take less than your love."
"No, I won't take less than your love."

writers Paul Davis and Paul Overstreet

**********

One of my very favorite songs.  If you have your speakers on you will hear it playing.

Have a peaceful Sunday.  Give thanks to God if you are here to enjoy it.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Suddenly it’s Saturday…

Busy week for me what with cleaning and garage sales.  This morning I started out to Kroger and couldn’t resist the temptation to go down 11th Street and check out the sale where the books were.  Yes, I did, I bought some more books.  I think the find of the day was a hardback by Michael Connelly that contained all 3 books in the Harry Bosch series.   Only a quarter!  I was told I could come back at 10 and everything would be half price.  Nope, had to say enough is enough!  lol

I did make my way on to Kroger and I have the chicken cooking now for the noodles.  I also bought strawberries and red grapes.  I intend to have some strawberry shortcake with my meal.  I was going to buy some of the red cherries that were on sale but there were none in the store.  Anyway, I am cooking today and will have a decent meal for a change.

It is sunny and going to be very hot and humid here today, up to the low 90s.  That is getting into the kind of Illinois weather that I don’t like.

This post is short as I have to get back to the kitchen.  I hope you all are having a great day.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Fantabulous Friday…

fan·tab·u·lous/fanˈtabyələs/

Adjective:

Excellent; wonderful.

Another day of being worn out but it was a lot of fun.  My daughter went with me to garage sales.  One thing nice about a larger city is there are so many garage sales.  I have stated before that I love garage sales.  I love meeting the people having them and I enjoy taking the the time to chat with them.  I am very particular about what I buy at a garage sale because I surely don’t need any more knickknacks  or things of that nature.  This morning at the Genealogical garage sale there were literally hundreds of books.  Now that is what I like to find at a sale.  I bought 2 boxes of books, all in mint condition.  At another sale I found 4 Nicolas Sparks hardbacks for 50 cents each.  I had just purchased 3 spools of thread for $2.39 each for my new sewing venture.  Today I found a whole ziplock bag of spools of thread for 50 cents. FUN!!

No eating out today though,  I fixed a sandwich here at home.  Tomorrow I am cooking chicken and fixing noodles with it.

It is very warm here today and starting to get humid.  No rain in sight though and we really do need some.  The tomatoes on my plants are bigger than marbles now, more the size of small plums.  I was talking to my neighbor across the driveway from me and two of her neighbors have planted tomato plants too.  I am hoping we have enough tomatoes for us all.

Have a peaceful weekend. Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Thursday…

and another busy day of cleaning.  My daughter came over and with her help we took everything from the cabinets in the kitchen.  Marcia cleaned inside the cupboards.  Then we washed dishes, pots and pans etc.  Next was cleaning underneath the sink and lining it with fresh paper.  I ended up with 2 boxes and 3 bags of stuff that we dropped off at Goodwill.  I have taken enough stuff to Goodwill this week to have had a magnificent garage sale.  Sadly there is no place here for me to have a garage sale.

Then it was another day of fast food at Arby’s.  Tomorrow I will really have to be on my good behavior and cook something.  I love Arby’s Beef ‘n cheddar though!

I  am exhausted again today.  I woke up before 5 this morning so I just got up.  Then we worked non stop for about 3 hours plus I had already done a load of laundry before we started.  It is really good that I weeded through all of that stuff.  Does one person need 50 different coffee mugs??  Or two complete sets of cookware?  Or 2 complete sets of dinnerware?  Not me.  I am a paper plate person since Jim is gone.  I have my favorite cup I use for tea, etc.

So now I am going to try and get around to visit you all, then I have Y&R recorded on the DVR to watch.  I also need to go out to the concrete garden and water my tomato plants and loosen up the dirt around them.  Whew!!  this tending a big garden wears me out too.  LOL  OOPS!!  I about forgot the marigolds planted around the lamp post.  I think I will go out now and take a pic of them so you can see how much they have grown.  I sprinkled some seed in there too and it is sprouting.

   

The shadow is from the lamp.  The shrubs that were planted around front.  I thought they looked half dead when they were planted.

Remember to stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Wednesday and…

I am too P**ped to to pop.  http://usads.ms11.net/shanehill.html    answer # 9 at this link.  In plain English, I am worn out.

I was up this morning at 6 AM.  I picked up my daughter shortly after 7 and we went to Menards and Walmart where I purchased a new shower curtain and bubbly mat for the tub.  Then back home where we had tea and a doughnut that was decorated so prettily with white frosting and sprinkled with red white and blue sugar.  Dontcha just love the 4th of July??  I do!!  I LOVE America with all of its faults!  And what could be nicer than a doughnut with red white and blue sprinkles.  I tell you, it just doesn’t get any better than that.

Then, getting down to business.  We, mostly my daughter climbing around, cleaned the bathroom, walls and all and put up the new shower curtain.  Then we moved everything out of the utility room which was no small chore.  My daughter proceeded to clean the walls in there and mop the floor.  She helped me unpack a couple of plastic tubs that I had never unpacked from when I moved here 2 years  ago.  I found 4 small photo albums that I need to go through and get the pics on the computer.  We ended up with 3 boxes and 2 sacks full of stuff for Goodwill.

After dropping the stuff off at Goodwill we stopped at one of the McDonalds  which was next door.  Turns out we should have gone to the other Mickey Ds which is closer to my house.  There must have been 50 or so middle school age kids from a church group that were being treated to a lunch there.  It was a problem ordering our lunch because of all of the noise.  Don’t kids that age make a lot of noise?  I don’t mind the noise.  Those were happy kids.  I repeat again, I LOVE America!  Better those kids be involved with a church group than out wandering around getting into trouble.

So that has been my day so far.  I still have quite a bit of stuff to put away and Y&R has been recorded for me to watch later.  Actually it has been a really good day for me.
Stay safe and be happy!! 

Beth

The Concrete Garden..

I love flowers!  Jim did too.  He had great luck with flowers and had built a rocked in flower garden all of the way around our back porch.  My flowers and my garden are two of the things I miss the most from my old home.  Although I would be remiss if I didn’t state again how much I miss the two car garage, the washer and dryer and the water softener.  OOPS!  I about forgot the second bathroom which was huge that we had built on to our house at the same time we added the back porch.
Here I have what I call a Concrete Garden.  I have 2 tomato plants on the concrete slab next door to me.  My neighbors (we all had homes and gardens in the past) have tried to make it cheery for us.   The rain stopped a little bit ago and I went out and took pictures. 

   
My tomato plant has several green tomatoes on it which you obviously can’t see from the picture.  The second pic is of some plants that my next door neighbors planted.
   

Two doors down from me my neighbors are an older couple who moved here from Iowa to be close to their daughter who lives here.  We have something in common because that is exactly why I sold my home and moved here two years ago.
It is Monday afternoon now and I did do a bit of cleaning today.  I will finish this tomorrow morning.

       
Some pics from home.

It is Tuesday morning now and I have been up since 6 AM.  I have laundry going with another load to go.
 
I have a doctor appointment this afternoon so I will close this off with a note to my bro in Boston.  Take care of your leg and be good!!  All of you, stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

It’s that time again…

to check out the tree in my back yard and see how it is progressing.

   

January 4, 2012                                                        February 4, 2012

   

March 4, 2012                                                          April 4, 2012

   

May 4, 2012                                         June 4, 2012.

 

Sorry about the last pic.  It is the best I could do.  I had to take it from my back door as it is raining again.  If you will click on the pics they become larger.  I have green tomatoes on my plants.  I wanted pictures of them but I decided I might melt if I went outside, so maybe tomorrow.

**********

Thank you all for the nice comments on the blog for my BIL’s birthday.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

I might as well clean today as it is nasty outside.

Happy Birthday today 3 June 2012…

to my brother in law Hugh.  I find it so hard to believe that he has reached the age  of ?.  Seems like only yesterday!

Hugh was born on June 3rd  in Kenova WV.  We met Hugh in the spring of 1955 while he was attending Western Illinois University in Macomb after his stint in the United States Navy.


Hugh attended grade school in Kenova.  50 years later to the day he accompanied his granddaughter to the very same school to begin the first grade.  Her mother and her grandmother (Rae) were both working.  Since Hugh was able to take a day of vacation from his job he got the honor of seeing his granddaughter safely to the first day of her first year of school.  

Hugh and Rae’s home now is just 4 blocks from the house where Hughie was born.

Rae and Hugh were married on November 4, 1955.  Through the years the four of us were very close.  Hugh and Jim were like brothers, a fact that Hugh mentioned when he spoke at Jim’s memorial service.  I have always thought of Hugh as my brother instead of brother in law.

   
Hugh as a baby and at  approximately ?? months old…
    
Hugh at 18 taken in California…and soon at boot camp (Great Lakes IL) during the time of the Korean War…
    
Hugh in 1955 when he first met Rae…and how they both  looked…

Rae with Hugh’s mom and dad…
 
Rae and Hugh’s wedding 4 November 1955…

Many moons ago…Hughie with 2 beautiful women…
 
Hugh and Jim…  Hugh in his workshop acting silly…  This guy makes the most beautiful things out of wood…
  
Hugh and Jim…                                                     Rae and Hugh…
 
Hugh and Rae July 2011…  And this year the birthday cards just kept coming, and coming…
 
Hughie opening one of the over 100 cards he received and how he looked when he was finished.  Pictures taken 2 June 2012.

Hughie, I want to wish you a very happy birthday filled with much love and happiness.  Thank you for all of the wise counsel you have given me, and thank you for being a brother to Jim too.  Eat a big piece of cake for me as I am stuck here 500 miles away,  Hugs for you all!

Love from your sister,

Beth