MOVING MAYHEM

 This is the back entry/laundry/closet/pantry room at the former house on moving day. It is jam packed with full boxes and this isn't quite all of them but couldn't get any more in here!

 Here the men who moved me are trying to put up the drapes from the former house. These drapes have quite a history with this being the 3rd house they have decorated. They were custom made for my husband's house after we were married. When I moved 10 years ago, the lady who made them was able to make them over to fit the windows in the living room there. And praise the Lord, they fit the windows here in the new house! It was quite comical watching 4 guys trying to figure out how to put up the rods. They took them down at the other house, so you would think they knew how to put them back up, right?

This is a view of the dining area taken from the kitchen.

 What a disaster! This is the kitchen right after unloading the trailers.

 Here is the living room taken from the dining area and looking toward the front door. The furniture did not stay arranged like this for a couple of reasons but it does look quite nice this way.

 A small glimpse of the bedroom ready for the first night sleeping there. I do want new bedding but will have to make do with the old for the time being.

 It is hard to see how big this bathroom is in this picture. Things look a little different now as I had management install grab bars on both sides of the shower. My daughter has also installed bars on each side of the toilet to make it easier getting up and down after my surgery. They have been a life saver, even though this is a higher than normal toilet.

 Here I am, totally worn out, in the 2nd bedroom/spare room, sitting in front of the computer desk and trying to get everything hooked up again. There are actually more unpacked boxes in this room right now because we moved some from other rooms that didn't need to be unpacked right away.

Another view of the dining area and kitchen taken from the living room.

I have since gotten the boxes of books unpacked and put on the book shelves and there are no more full boxes in there. I am anxious to get everything organized so I can take pictures again.

All these pictures were taken by my daughter on moving day.

I had told you before the move that I didn't know what was going to happen to the red swing on the front porch. It turns out my son has a spot for it on his front porch so he took it back to Virginia when he went home after helping me after my surgery. I am happy it is staying with family for now.

'Til next time. . . . . .

MOVED IN AND SURGERY IS OVER

The whirlwind move is over. I am so thankful for all the help from several men and women from the church. A couple of friends came and helped pack the day before moving, along with my daughter and her 11 year old twins. Even though I had already packed a lot of boxes, there was still a lot left, especially the last minute stuff in the kitchen and pantry, plus the garage.

I was able to declutter a lot in the garage since I don't need any garden tools at my new home. And there were a lot of things out there that I had not used in many years so out they went.

Thank goodness moving day was not too hot or humid like it was 10 years ago when I moved into the old place. The guys who moved things were very thankful as well!

I am loving my new home. Everything is new - all appliances included. I even have a dish washer now! I had one many, many years ago and like it but it got old and worn out and my ex didn't seem to want to have it fixed or buy a new one so I did without. When I married my second husband he was my dishwasher as he didn't mind doing them. And there was absolutely no room in his kitchen for a dishwasher anyway. It has been over 30 years since I had a dishwasher that worked. The one here is nice and quiet compared to the older ones too.

And the new washer and dryer is a matched set of new front loading machines. They work really well so far.

After the first night of sleeping in the new house I woke up and thought I was in a hotel room because it all looked so nice. The bedroom is not large and only has room for the queen size bed, long dresser with hutch/mirror top, and chest of drawers. No room for the computer desk like before, but that is a good thing. The computer and sewing desk are in the second bedroom along with several unpacked boxes and a few other odd pieces of furniture that used to be in the living room.

The bathroom is at least 3 times bigger than the old one. Previously I had to walk in and back out because it was so small. I could go on and on. I do have a few pictures of moving day but once I get everything in place I will take pictures again and share with you.

As for the knee surgery, that went very well. People, if you ever need joint replacement surgery, do the spinal if the doctors approve as it is so much easier than general anesthesia. You wake up feeling good, and have an appetite again as soon as they allow you a regular diet.

I had the surgery on a Tuesday afternoon and came home Thursday. I am so thankful that all three of my kids were able to each take a week to help me at home. They also did more unpacking for me, especially getting the kitchen done so that I didn't have to be concerned about boxes sitting around while using the walker.

Once home, that meant going to physical therapy here in town 3 times a week at first, then only twice a week for a couple of weeks. The therapists have been very pleased with my progress and further ahead than most knee replacement patients that they have worked with. So I only have two more session left and should be finished with that. Now I am ready for the second knee replacement, but that won't be for another 5 weeks.

I tried driving this afternoon for the first time and it went well, so I feel confident enough to drive myself to therapy and getting groceries when needed, even though it was my right knee that had the surgery. I was also able to walk to the mail box and back, with the walker, to get my own mail, which I have not been able to do for years. This mailbox is slightly closer than the previous house but I do have to go down a slight incline at the bottom of the driveway and was a bit leary about that, but it went okay, so I think I might be able to take my own garbage cans to the curb and back very soon. However, they are large and bit hard to maneuver while using a walker, so will see if it will work this week. If not, my friend will continue to stop by and do it for me for a while longer.

Besides not sleeping well at night, so take naps during the day and being just plain tired from the moving, unpacking and surgery all so close together, I have been watching most of the Olympics so I have not spent much time on the computer. As much as I enjoy the Olympics, I am happy that they will be over tomorrow so things can get back to regular schedule again.

This brings you up to date on everything happening here. I hope to get pictures taken soon and share them with you.

'Til next time. . . .

THERE'S SOME CHANGING AHEAD

Things have been happening fast here in the last couple of weeks.

Not only am I having a knee replaced in one month, but ten days before that I am moving!

I had put in an application to rent one of the new duplex units that are being built here in town as soon as they started taking applications. I just found out last week that I was approved, was able to tour the unit the next day and decided to move in by August 1. Unfortunately that is just a few days after my knee surgery, so they agreed to let me start moving in on the 16th, before the surgery. So I should be pretty well settled in time for surgery and following recovery.

So here I sit, very early in the morning with boxes and 'stuff' from the closet shelves, plus the kitchen table is completely covered with all the things I had on display above the kitchen cupboards and a long shelf above the doors. Everything is very dusty and spider-webby so it all needs to be washed before packing. Hopefully I will be able to part with some of the things as storage is a bit limited in the new place.

Yesterday my granddaughter and her husband from Omaha stopped  and brought me quite a few flattened boxes from her work so I have a bunch to fill for now. I do have to go buy some packing tape first. When I moved here I used duct tape as I thought it might be stronger, but found out it does not stick to cardboard boxes very well and bottoms started to come apart in the moving!

The kids got on the step stool and took everything down for me since I couldn't reach it, and am unable to use a ladder or step stool with my bad knees, and that was a huge help. So you know what I will be doing a little later this morning.

The unit I am moving to is a two bedroom so it will be nice to have the extra room to use as a sewing/ computer room. Hopefully by the time I get everything in there I will still have room for an extra bed for guests. I will also have a big shower with a low lip that will be easier for me to get into instead stepping into a deep bathtub which has become nearly impossible with my knees. There is also an attached garage that is drywalled! I have lived in several houses and none of them had finished garages like this. All new appliances come with it, including a dishwasher! Carpeting is only in the bedrooms, so no more carpet on every single floor in the house, like here, including kitchen and bathroom. I might wish I had the carpet this winter since I always run around barefoot all year long. But there are always area rugs I can put down in places if I want to.

My daughters will be here the weekend of the move, and I asked my church if they would be willing to move the big stuff for me like they did 10 years ago when I moved in here. They said yes! I am only moving one block north and 2 blocks east so it would be really expensive to hire a moving company.

One thing I am a little sad about is that I have no place to hang my husband's porch swing. It is an antique. And it was so handy when I had to give someone directions to my house. They just had to find the red swing in front. There is at least one other house on the block with a swing but it is white. Just can't miss that red! I just have to keep reminding myself that you can't keep things forever. It is too bad that none of my kids have a place for it either.

With all this happening, my blog posts will still be quite sporadic for awhile. But you have a pretty good idea what I will be doing. I will also be going to physical therapy two or three times a week after the surgeries so I have a feeling I will be taking a lot of naps as I will be worn out.

Until next time. . . . . . .

HOW DO YOU UN-FRY A CHICKEN?

 (I intended to send this out June 10 but it seems I must have forgotten to hit 'publish' as I see it is still in draft mode. See what lack of sleep does!)


I sure didn't do what I said I would. I can't seem to get my brain to 'want' to blog for awhile. It doesn't help that I rarely sleep longer than a couple hours at a time and often have to get up and watch tv because I start to toss and turn and wide awake between 2:30 to sometimes 5 or 6 AM before going back to bed and finally able to go to sleep again. That doesn't help to keep the mind from getting foggy.

I have kept busy running to doctor appointments the last few months. For one, I go to the local clinic and have a protime test every one to two weeks to check how thin my blood is since I was put on coumadin, actually warfarin is the generic name. The clinic is only 5 or 6 blocks away and takes about 15 minutes including wait time, but it does mean that I have to get out of my sloppy clothes I wear in the house, and sometimes even my PJ's, and take the time to go.

I also saw a orthopedic surgeon that specializes in knee and hip replacements and have scheduled knee replacements for both knees in the coming months. He will do one and then wait two months to do the other one, providing I have recovered well from the first. That takes place in a city 60 miles away. So between pre-op checkups and post op checkups for both surgeries, I have several more appointments to get to. Add to that, my 3 month checkups with the oncology doctor.  In 10 months I can change that to every 6 months so that will be some relief.

If any of you have had bone-on-bone joints for awhile, you probably know how it hurts to walk or stand and I am long overdue for the surgery. I wish I didn't have to wait longer but the doctor wants me to lose weight and go to physical therapy to gain some strength in my legs before the surgeries. So I finally kicked my behind and got to work on dieting again. So far I have lost 14 lbs! That brings me to this blog title about unfried chicken.

Many years ago Oprah featured her personal chef, Rosie, on her show who showed how to make unfried chicken and unfried french fries, two of Oprah's favorites. I have to agree with Oprah about the chicken. It is very good and you can find that recipe here.

I did change it up a bit this time since the doctor said to eat lots of protein and vegetables and no carbs, so I did not add the flour and breadcrumbs when I made it the other day. I also did not dip the chicken in the yogurt first since I was not breading the chicken. Instead, I just mixed all the spices together, put in a plastic bag and shook the chicken with the spices to coat each piece.

I had a package of 6 boneless chicken breasts that I used. Those breasts were so big that the total package weight 5 pounds! I had to mix up the spices about 4 times in order to cover all 6  and so they were heavily spiced, but oh-so-good! I did cut the breasts in half after they were baked and one piece was plenty for a meal. I will certainly make this again.

I have sliced a piece up and added to a green salad for a main dish and it is very good that way too. I think today I will use some of it to make a chicken vegetable soup that is included in the diet plan I am using.

Until next time . . . . .

BEFORE AND AFTER - ALL GROWN UP

Oh, my goodness. A lot of time has passed again since my last post. Easter has come and gone, and now we are almost one week into April. The last two weeks of this month I will be busy with four appointments at doctors and clinics, two of them in Sioux Falls.

I finally decided on an orthopedic surgeon and made the appointment for a consultation about knee replacement. I hate to think of more surgery but the last couple of weeks have been torture trying to get around so it must be done sooner than later.

 Before

This little fat cheeks is my granddaughter.

After

She just celebrated her 23rd birthday March 28.

They grow up way too fast!

A GEM WITH NO STONE

 

My hometown is having its 125th celebration this summer and a Facebook group page was set up. People are posting old picture and telling stories of what they remember growing up there. Someone started a discussion on class rings and I remembered that I have my mother's class ring from 1927!

So I got busy and took a few pictures of this pretty ring. In the top picture I realized I had set the ring down upside down for the picture. The design on the top of the ring are supposed to be the initials of the school - OHS.

These two pictures show the year - the 2 on one side and the 7 on the opposite side.

                   The next picture shows off the filigree a little better. It is really quite a delicate ring compared to later years.                               

                                  

My mom had really small fingers compared to mine! I will admit that mine are bigger now than when I was in high school. As shown in the picture below, I could barely get it over the knuckle of my pinkie finger. And only that hand as it would not go over the knuckle on my left hand at all.

I apologize for the blurry pictures. I had an awful time holding the camera with one hand and be able to push the button to get the picture and keep the camera perfectly still at the same time. (That can't be age!)

MORE OLD THINGS

Some time ago I decluttered my jewelry drawer. I had forgotten about this small metal box and decided it should not be hiding in a drawer. It is actually darker than the pictures as I lightened them in order to see some of the design.

The above is just the lid. The lid was originally attached with a hinge to the bottom, but that broke apart at some time. I don't remember it ever being attached, so it must have happened before I came along. At least I am NOT taking the blame for this one!

Inside are a few pieces of old jewelry Mom had. I wish I knew more about the box and the jewelry. The could have been her mother's or maybe even a grandmother. I am also thinking the red brooch might have been her grandmother's, as well as the silver one. The red pin is covered with small garnets. The E pin is Mom's initial. I remember Mom getting the heart pin. This one of those 3D pins that were popular many years ago. I think Mom bought it at a home jewelry party.

My mom never knew either of her grandmothers. The only one she considered a grandmother is the second wife of her grandfather on her dad's side. Her other grandmother died when her mom was 2 years old, her dad remarried and then he died when she was 7. She was raised by the step mother and her second husband. Maybe  my grandmother was given her mother's box by her dad before he died? I guess we will never know. There are many mysteries. Some get answers if you dig long enough, but I don't think this one will.

There was another item in the box, but you will have to wait until the next post to find out what it is.

CHURCH AUCTION OFFERINGS

Our church auction was delayed 2 weeks because of a snow storm, so it might seem a little late for this posting this year. I could not find a special afghan pattern that I wanted to make so just picked this one as it is fairly simple, not so large, and quick to make since I got a late start. This pattern is called "Northern Lights". I think the colors and shading is very pretty. I didn't think it would bring in the big money like my afghans in past years, and it didn't. I was a little concerned that it would not sell for the price of the materials, but it did go a little higher. If it had not, I feel like I should just donate the cash instead of putting in all my work and time. I will work harder at finding a special one for next year.

Next is the piece I thought might be the pièce de résistance this year and I was right. This crocheted christening gown is the piece chosen to ask for $20 donations, and then people bid on it to buy. I understand that it made around $400, so this was well worth my time and effort.

My other donations were a trio of crocheted tote baskets in three sizes. I took the pictures on a chair to show the different sizes.

                                                        

The large one is the first one I made. It was a learning curve. Either I wasn't following the directions correctly, or else I just didn't like the way the directions turned out. So did things a little differently on the last two. I don't know if others can tell the difference but I am happier.  (The two pictures above are of the same basket.)

Each size has the colors arranged differently. The set of three came in one kit, so in order to have enough yarn of each color, it had to be done this way. But I did run out of the tan color so had to change things up a bit. It doesn't really matter, does it. At least I had enough of the other colors to finish them all. I did not hear what these sold for. The plan was to offer them individually rather than as a set. I think I need to make some of these for myself as I found them handy!

Now, to put my thinking cap on and pour over hundreds of patterns to decide what to make for next year.

WHO IS SADIE HAWKINS?

I didn't realize we had a Sadie Hawkins Day this year until the middle of February. A big deal was always made of this day in school when I was a kid. Do young people even know what that is? That is what we called February 29 since it only comes around every four years. In the three years in between February only has 28 days. No matter what year it is, February is always the shortest month of the year, and most of us living in cold and snowy winter country always look forward to the last day of February. That means temperatures are warming up and often feels like the beginning of spring.

Back to Sadie Hawkins. That is a "holiday" when the tables are turned and women and girls get to ask the guys out, and even propose marriage, especially if the guy is dragging his feet. In today's society and women's lib, women are more apt to do the asking anyway. Some places would have Sadie Hawkins dances and only the girls could ask a boy for a date. Girls looked forward to that day unless they were shy like me. The shy girls feared asking a boy so often stayed home.

I couldn't remember why this day was called that so I had to google it. And I found several sites that talked about Sadie Hawkins Day is November 13, 2016, or some say it is November 1, 2016. WHAT?

It all started with Al Capp and his comic strip Li'l Abner, and talk of Sadie Hawkins Day was first published in November 1937. The comic strip ended in 1978 so there must be a whole generation  who have never even heard of Li'l Abner. Li'l Abner lived in Dogpatch, USA, a hillbilly community.  Sadie Hawkins was 'the homeliest gal in the hills' and nobody wanted to date her, so the only way she could get a date was to have one day a year when gals got to do the asking.

So was Sadie Hawkins day only talked about in November in the comic strip? I only remember it was on February 29. Is that what you remember, too? Or do you remember it being in November? Well, I will continue to call February 29 Sadie Hawkins Day anyway.

Do you know why we have an extra day every four years, also known as Leap Year? Leap years have 366 days, not 365. We use leap years to sync our calendar with the Earth's orbit around the sun because the actual orbit is 365.24 days each year. So we need the extra day every four years so that our calendar keep up.

Okay, I have finished teaching for today. I even learned something!

WEDDING BELLS

Now backing up to end of August and my granddaughter's wedding. It all went well, was very pretty and fun.

I went down to Omaha the day before so I could get situated in a hotel room with my oldest daughter. Then we went to the rehearsal and supper. I am so thankful my other daughter (mother of the bride) was able to get a wheelchair for me. My oldest daughter had the 'privilege' of being my driver, both to and from venues as well as pushing the wheelchair wherever I needed to be.  That wheelchair was a lifesaver for me because I would not have made it with all the walking and standing around. The morning after the wedding we went to the bridal couple's new home to watch them opening their gifts with some of the rest of the family and their close friends.

I so enjoyed getting to know my new 'grandson-in-law' (?) much better over the weekend. Even though they had dated for many years, and I saw him a few times, he was pretty quiet and I really didn't know his true personality. My granddaughter found a great guy!

Here are a few pictures of the big event.

 Can you read the sign next to the cake? 

"The best things in life are meant to be shared, especially cake."

 

What is a wedding without cake face smashing?!

They were nice about it, not like some that you see on Facebook where they can get a bit nasty.

The first dance

Grandma (moi) and bride

I guess I forgot to take a picture of the cross stitch I did as part of their gift. This one is the same design I did for someone else. Granddaughter teared up when she opened the box.

I NEED SPRING!

While it is true that we have not had as much snow as the eastern part of the country did last year, we have had a lot more in my area this year than in many years past. We have had at least 2 big snowstorms receiving a foot or more of snow each. They have also been called blizzards because we had some very strong winds a couple of times. They were strong enough to blow some semi trucks off the road.

One of the prettiest snowfall we received was on November 20. We did not have wind with this storm which is very rare here on the prairie. I cannot remember ever seeing the views like in the pictures below, below, taken from my kitchen window and back door, at least since I moved to this house 10 years ago.

 I thought the higher bumps on the high fence rail are interesting, and wonder why it formed that way. The rail is flat. The snow on the lower rail gives a better picture of how much snow we got, as well as the high, round top of the tub behind the table.

 I love the 'loaf of bread' in the wire planter. This was a 'wet' snow as you can see how it sticks to the pickup. See the piles of snow on top of the bumper?

 I took this photo because of the amazing snow sculpture that extends from the edge of the garage roof.

 You can really see the big snowflakes falling here, as well as the lower visibility in town. It would be much worse in the open country. The main reason I took this picture was trying to get the snow piled up on the neighbor's picnic table and benches, but it is a little hard to see distinct lines.

Since it was still snowing when I took these pictures, we did get about 2" more snow by the time the storm was over.

The most recent storm we had did not leave much snow but the wind was 30-50 mph all night long and just blew what snow we did get into drifts. The highway that runs through town was blocked between here and the next town to the east. Snow plows were pulled off the roads around 10 pm so no travel advised.

We are told we can thank El Nino for all this snow, plus all the dense foggy nights and mornings. One day last week it was so dense that I could not see the end of my block so visibility was less than a quarter mile to zero, and that was in daylight. I am so thankful I did not have to go anywhere, and feel sorry for those that did.

Spring, come soon!

AN OLD FASHION VALENTINE

 I found these two old valentines among my mothers things. Unfortunately, I do not know what year these were made, but would guess from the 1920's to 1930's.

These are 3-D cards. I am holding this one open below. It is hard to tell in the picture but you can get some idea with the shadows and how different parts are in different places on the card..

 The second card is sweet romance.

 Opened.

I wonder what the significance is of the train behind the floral heart. Does that seem odd? Maybe it represents the train of love? It does have a heart on the front of the engine.

This picture is to show the placement of each part of the picture when opened. I had to hold each part as the glue has disappeared from several parts. This also shows the accordion folds of the flower at the front.

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Remember to tell your loved ones that they ARE loved, not only on Valentine's Day, but every day.

WHERE DOES TIME GO?

Where does time go? How many times to we say that in a year? The older you get, the more you say it.

I have a lot of catching up to do here since I see I have not posted since July. My granddaughter's wedding has taken place and we are already 1 1/2 months into a new year. I had no idea it would take me this long to even feel up to posting again, and then my procrastination set in as well.

After the wedding in August 29 (will post more on that later), I had a couple of doctor appointments the first few days of September. After that, my calendar was clear and I was more than ready for a good rest after the very busy summer.

I basically just shut down, both physically and emotionally, for over two weeks. Then I gradually began to work back to normal. I don't think I am completely there yet, but very close or you would not be seeing this post!

All I wanted to do is sleep and read romance books on my Kindle, or watch my favorite tv shows. The first few days I mostly slept. I ate when I got really hungry but did not cook. It was either frozen meals and the occasional meals brought in by friends, or just sandwiches or peanut butter toast and canned soups. I did not go out to get groceries, so had to do with what I had in the house, or ordered online and delivered to the door. Obviously, I survived quite well.

I will try to get a post or two done every week, and hopefully more than that, but will see how things go. We are back to our early Friday morning Bible studies again, so must work on that as well.