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!