Take heart…

there are only 55 days left on the countdown to Spring.  The weather is still miserable at 2 degrees with a wind chill of minus 20.  The wind is moving to the southwest though and the temp is to warm into the 20s today.  January seems to be dragging on forever.

I am going out in a few minutes to see if my car will start  and clean the snow off.  Then a trip to the Kroger store to stock up.  We have a winter weather warning for more snow tomorrow. 

Nothing much happening here.  I won’t cook today.  The steak was good  but I only ate one small piece.  I usually bake a chicken as it is much healthier.

I have been to the store and am home again.  This time I didn’t forget the baloney so I am good to go.  I also got Cottonelle TP  too.  What more do I need to ride out the coming snow and cold then baloney and TP??

I am about to finish the Lisa Gardner book.  She is one of my favorite authors however this story is even grossing me out a little and I have read just about everything in my murder mysteries.  I probably need to read a Harlequin romance next to get my mind straightened out again. 

Wow, in the time I have been typing this and running to the store the temp has warmed up to 7 degrees.

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

Beth

Greetings from…

the frozen Tundra where the countdown to Spring is limping along at 56 days.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra

A group of arctic hares on Ellesmere Island photo courtesy of Wikpedia

It is bitter cold this morning at 4 below zero with a wind chill of 20 below.  The sun is shining brightly again and the high today is to reach 1 degree.   The weather is to remain like this through next Wednesday with a slight moderation on Saturday.  I guess that will be the day that I make a run to the grocery store to stock up on baloney.

I have frozen my patootie again this  morning.  I changed my bedding and walked out in the bitter cold again to the laundry room.  I have to go out in a few minutes again to put stuff in the dryer.  Then once again to take it out.  After that I will be lazing for most of the day. 

Yesterday my niece came over and had ham and beans with me.  The small container remaining has been relegated to the freezer.  Today I am fixing baked steak.

 

Baked Steak

2 to 3 pounds of tenderized round steak

oil for browning steak

seasoned flour for coating steak

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 jar of whole mushrooms

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut steak into serving size pieces.    Dip into the seasoned flour (I use Season All salt).  Have oil in pan hot.  Brown on one side and turn and brown on the other side.  Remove steak to a 13X9 baking dish that you have sprayed with cooking spray.  Spoon 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup evenly over the top of the steak.  Pour the jar of mushrooms including the juice over the cream of mushroom soup.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35-45 minutes.  Uncover and put back in the oven until steak is browned.  Serve over mashed potatoes or cooked noodles.

As you can see I will have leftovers here too but this is really good reheated.

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

Beth

Winter is back…

with a vengeance.  That doesn’t stop me from doing the countdown to Spring which stands at 58 days.  It is 4 degrees as I type this, the sun is shining brightly, the wind chill is 18 below zero and the wind is gusting to 38 miles per hour.  We got about 3 inches of snow but with the wind gusting so high it has drifted again.

This is looking out my front storm door.  It is frosted clear to the top.  Those are the angels that I keep above my door.  The sign reads ‘Angels gather here.’

You can see here the footprints my paper carrier left this morning.

Here you can see how the snow has drifted again.  Needless to say, my car is covered again.  Need I repeat that I am getting really tired of the snow and cold??

I have a pot of ham and beans cooking.  I will make corn bread to have with that.  Of course I am cooking way to much for one person so feel free to come on over and have a bite to eat.

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are and the ground is bare of snow.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Yahoo!!

It is 8 degrees above zero this morning and the wind chill (sorry Debbie) is 10 below zero. It is only 71 more days till Spring.  A bit more snow is predicted for today, but only an inch or two.

Maintenance finally came yesterday and cleaned the sidewalks.  I set the alarm for 6 this morning so I could make my way to the laundry room early.   I have made a good start on the day.

I got out yesterday afternoon and started my car.  It turned right over much to my surprise.  I also cleaned the car off and I hope to be able to get to the pharmacy and grocery store tomorrow.  They still haven’t plowed our street yet but I noticed that my next door neighbor made a couple of runs yesterday.  It is to get in the upper teens tomorrow so I will give it a try.

Nothing else to report here except I have cooked the last few days and only eaten one of the fat laden TV dinners.

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

One of my readers was unsure what I meant by cabin fever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin_fever

Cabin fever is an idiomatic term, first recorded in 1918,^[1] for a claustrophobic reaction that takes place when a person or group is isolated and/or shut in a small space, with nothing to do for an extended period. Cabin fever describes the extreme irritability and restlessness a person may feel in these situations.^[2]

^{*****************************************************}

^{Stay safe and be happy!!}

^Beth

Snow is drifted everywhere…

and the real temp is –14 with the wind chill reading at 31 degrees  below zero right now. It is 73 days till Spring!!  The high for today is to be –12 and the wind chill is to be 40 – 50 below zero because the winds are to be  gusting higher.

Footprints from the paper carrier.

And so life goes on as does global warming??  I am in sweats again today.  I did put some makeup on though as I scared myself each time I looked in the mirror yesterday.  I will spend the day cooking I think and reading more on the Nora Roberts book.  It is very interesting although a tiny bit on the supernatural side, but then a lot of her books are that way.  This is a trilogy and there are 2 more books to follow in this series so of course I am hooked.

And speaking of books, the downloads for Nook and Kindle are different.  I like my Nook but I much prefer a book that I can hold in my hands.

Stay warm…and Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

 

It is bitter cold…

on this Tuesday morning on 10 December 2013.  There is snow on the ground, the wind is gusting at 25 miles an hour.  It is 10 degrees and the wind chill is well below zero.  I am not going out today.  I called my daughter and asked if she would bring my short handled snow shovel over sometime today and a couple of things from the store.  I have a dental appointment on Thursday and I am thinking about calling and changing that appointment.  The weather forecast is for more snow tomorrow with the bitter cold temps remaining.

Another Christmas item.  I purchased this at the Hospital Christmas Bazaar last year.

My new tin sign I purchased at Gordmans this year.  The picture is a bit blurry but you get the general idea.

I am almost to my 1000th post on this blog.  If you were to add all of the posts from my various blogs here and on wordpress the total would be in the several thousands! 

I hope the weather is nice wherever you are and the sun is shining.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Happy Sunday…

It is very cold and windy here this morning in the heart of central Illinois.  The snow flurries are swirling like they might decide to cover the ground.  It is 20 degrees with a big wind chill.  How do I know this??  Simple!  I took myself out in this bitter weather this morning to Kroger for a few things I needed which amounted to a small fortune.    Each time I go to the grocery store the prices are higher.

I made homemade chili yesterday.  It was so good with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese.  I would have had some cornbread with it but I was too lazy to fix it.  So I settled for Town House crackers.  I just throw stuff together when I make chili, no set recipe.  One thing I do each time I make it is to measure the chili spice.  That is an important ingredient.  lol

I got a big fat hen at the store this morning.  Tomorrow I think will be chicken and dumplings which was my husband’s favorite dish.  He really loved that.  His mom made homemade dumplings and I do have her recipe posted on my recipe site.  I personally prefer dumplings made with Bisquick that are light and fluffy.  Gosh, now I am getting hungry.

I am trying to get back in the Christmas spirit again as I have some things to wrap.  I think I might get some gift cards to finish out. 

I hope you all have a lovely peaceful day!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Would you believe…

it is only 39 days left on the Countdown to Spring and we are on tap for snow and the coldest temps of the winter.  I knew it was too good to be true.

I am just home form grocery shopping and a trip to the bank.  I was out of diet 7-UP and I have to have the stuff on hand.  I have a rotisserie chicken which I am going to have for lunch.  I love the rotisserie chicken from Wal*Mart.  I don’t buy my groceries there though as I think they are quite a bit higher than the other grocery stores in town.  I went from one little IGA store at home to half a dozen good sized grocery stores here.    I shop the sales here and what I have coupons for.

As I mentioned before, the temps are to be dropping all day and the snow is on its way.  Wind chill tonight to reach 10 – 15 below zero.  So I am stocked up on food, my Nook is fully loaded and I have a Phillip Margolin book that I am ready to read.  Could life get any better?  Yes, it probably could but I am thankful for what I have and I consider each day a privilege.

I have a new neighbor in one of the units.  This is the 3rd family I have seen in that unit in the almost 2 years I have been living here.  I had thought about looking for a house to buy when my lease is up 1 April.  I have decided against that as I am waiting to see what life brings to me in the next few months.  I do know that my rent will be raised $10 a month and that is the second raise on the rent.  I am spending enough on rent to buy a house, that is for sure.

Well, I have jabbered away and really not said anything so I guess I will quit jabbering and start thinking about lunch.  I hope you all have a peaceful weekend.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Up and at ‘em…

early this morning.  I set the alarm for 6:45 AM so I would be up bright and early to let you all know that it is only 62 more days till Spring.

It is sunshine bright out this morning but the temperature is a very cold 9 degrees with a wind chill of 1 below zero.  I guess winter didn’t forget  us, it just took its time getting here.  The snow yesterday didn’t amount to anything although we have some more on the way.  The groundhog will soon be telling us that we have 6 more weeks of winter, well we all knew that anyway.

Now to brighten the day, some of the flowers from  my neighbor, Sandi, at home.

 

Gotta go now.  The vacuum is calling me.  You all stay safe and be happy.

Beth

First wind chill of the season..

this morning.  It was 6 degrees when I got up this morning and the wind chill was 1 below zero.  I don’t like it when we start having wind chill along with the temperature.  That means winter is definitely closing in.

Yesterday was a fairly decent day although it didn’t get out of the 20s all day.  I went with my daughter to an open house at a small flower shop downtown.  They were serving sherbet punch, cookies, etc.  There were door prizes to be given.  Evidently neither one of us won as I didn’t hear anything.  We each purchased something though.  Marcia got a lovely center piece with live flowers and I purchased the cute snowman you see below.  His tummy lights up and it is so pretty in the dark.

The arrangement is sitting on top of an old wooden bookcase that is put together with wooden pegs.  Jim and I picked it up at an auction probably 40 years ago.

I am going to make oatmeal raisin and snickerdoodle cookies today.  Actually just the dough and I will make the cookies tomorrow.  Cookies don’t spread if you chill the dough  a few hours or overnight.

I forgot to tell you that after the  flower shop open house we had lunch at 8th Street Station aka Grumpy Pete’s.  I don’t know why they changed the name.  I thought Grumpy Pete’s sounded way more classy.  lol

Time to get busy.  You all take time to enjoy the morning.  Today is unique in that it is one of a kind.  Stay safe and be happy!!  Oh, and ‘Hi’ to RB who I know reads my blog each day even though he says they are nothing but gossip.

Beth

Minus 22 wind chill…

but who cares?  Not me, I am busy counting the days till Spring which stands at 40 days, give or take a day or two.   If the weather forecast is to be believed by  next Sunday it should reach a magnificent 40 degrees.  Not holding my breath mind you, just cautiously optimistic.  There is so much snow on the ground though that I don’t expect to feel much benefit.
Yesterday my niece came over to have lunch with me and watch Y & R.  That show is so mixed up now it is hard to keep up with who is dead and who is alive.  I have been hooked for a long time now so I keep right on watching. 
I fixed beef/vegetable soup for lunch with the leftover roast beef.  It was good and I had 4 serving size containers to put in my freezer beside the chili.  Watch out Ms Calender.  Not sure what I am cooking today.  I need to get to the pharmacy but I am not going out in temps this cold.  Hopefully tomorrow.  I also need to get to the grocery store for a few things.
I think I have everything I need to file my taxes, so that looms on the horizon.    Not looking forward to that!!
I need to stop and fix me some breakfast.  I will be around to visit later.  In the meantime, play nice.
  Beth

Monday…

and I woke up to a  bitter cold temp of 2 degrees F with a wind chill of 19 below zero.  The snow has drifted around my car and the front sidewalk is drifted over.  Maintenance came last night and plowed off the driveway where we back our cars out and of course everything has blown over again this morning.  I hope that my car will start.  I will go out in a little while and give it a try. 

This picture was taken last year of one of my flower beds at home.  If you will click on the picture you will see how pretty they were.  The compensations here in my new place go a long way towards making up the difference.  It’s ok, I am just reminiscing, and feeling a little bit homesick.

To the best of my ability my early countdown shows only 97 days till Spring. 

  Beth