I stumbled upon this blog! it says alot!

If you click here:

http://christinasadventures2010.blogspot.com/2010/10/cinderella-story.html

You will see a cute make-over on a piano bench!

Just a few weeks ago, I purchased this red one, pictured above , for $4.00 at a yard sale. I think it's time to refinish mine!

{It's also time that I learned how to post pix where I want them to be! ---I didn't know that this photo was going to be at the top of my page! Help Me!! Anyone? I think I'm a quick learner!}

~~time to go look at my fabric stash, and see if I have anything that will match any of my paint supply!

way past time!

It is 'way past time' that I posted something here....

But, as always, right this minute, I feel rushed.... So, maybe later...

After all, I did take a bunch of pix yesterday, while out in my garden....

And we went over to the Atlantic Coast on 2/24 to watch the Space Shuttle Discovery Lift-Off for the last time!

And I took alot of pix that day, too....

I'm loving Florida in February... well, March, now! {Already, can you believe it? Time sure flies!}

Well, in order to add pix, I need to get up outta this chair, and go get my camera from the kitchen...{and if I get up, then I'm not coming back for quite a while!}

I just found a cute idea for 'blogger's block'~~You know, for when You don't know what to write about?

I think you can click here:

http://networkedblogs.com/eKiw6?ref=nf

{one of these days, I'll learn how to link up things better, here...}

There. Done. A post on my blog! Haven't done this in weeks!!!

Joining Debbiedoos for Pet Party!

I linked up with Debbie http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/p/pet-partay.html

for a Pet Party.

Thanx Debbie, for hosting all these pets~

diets are for fatties...

Whenever friends have dieted, I've always rolled my eyes... I never dieted.... Diets are for fatties.... So, what's going on in my head now????

Is is just the facebook post I saw the other day? My cousin, 370 lbs, {i can't imagine being that weight!}had been posting things with my sister, and I was reading their posts... ended up going to her blog and mainly just laughed at it... But, am I doing the same thing???? Look at my posts-Pumpkin Bread Pudding! OMG! How can I think that I'll lose weight eating that???? My cuz's blog was funny, because she was telling all about the fattening foods she was having, and lack of exercise, too.... And here I sit--while my ab chair exerciser thingy sits in the other end of the house.... That's where I should be right now!!!!

Guess I gotta "get with it".... First, a before picture:

I can't believe i uploaded this picture-for everyone to see! Well, actually, my hub's took this pic. on our honeymoon, in Cozumel... So, it's a few years old.... 2005, really--I like to think my belly still looks that good! {Not that that was "good"-but, it's better than how it looks now!} Oh, well, after 5 yrs of marriage and "good home cooking" it's bound to be a bit rounder!

{I'm holding a huge starfish that I'd found while snorkeling... God, I miss that! Yes, I am in Florida, so I probably could find a place, but near us, the water's always too murky to see anything... ok, I'm getting off track.... time to get back on....}
While out yesterday, in one of my fav. stores {Marshall's!}--I found this book, and thought, ""For $3.00, why not? If nothing else, it'll be fun reading..."

So, in bed last night, I started it... I really don't remember if it's any good or not--I fell asleep reading it, and I'm so glad I did-fall asleep, that is, cuz I was fighting the grumblings going on in that fat belly of mine.... I don't know what happened, ... maybe the cottage cheese I bought wasn't so good???

Anyhow, luckily, it was only me {not hubs, who's in a wheelchair} that had constant diarrhea for more than 2 hours last night..... Looking forward to trying to get into the book again tonite, while not sucking on Pepto-Bismol tablets!

Hey, they're the same color as the book! Even my tongue looked like that after 6 of those nasty things! Hmmm, if I had a night like last night, every night, for a month, I'd lose that 35 pounds for sure!

Oh well, more on my diet later!

Now, to go for a walk, to the other end of the house.... and blow the dust off my exercise thingy!

New Year's Day~ My daughter, her step-daughter {in this pic} and I went to the Nature Preserve for a walk..... Ended up also going over to the beach, to watch the sunset.... It's nice to live so close, to be able to go watch the sunset, or just enjoy the sights and smells of the Gulf.Yesterday, as I was taking out the trash, I noticed this little guy, hanging out in my front yard... Look close, you'll find him....

He was foraging for bugs.... I'm hoping we don't have many in our yard! ~Bugs, that is! Although, I always love to see the "Bug Birds" when they come! I should find out what they are called~~~But, this is what I always call them, when I see them... I was surprised to see him all alone, usually there's a bunch together!
Last night, I was out of veg. oil, so I couldn't make the pumpkin cookies I was planning. Instead, I made this "To Die For" Pumpkin Bread Pudding! See, a week or so ago, I had made P. Bread...

When I took it out of the oven, Immediately, I realized that I had forgotten the Baking Soda! What a difference, that little teaspoon of soda makes!!!! Ruined! I Ruined 5 mini loaves, and 1 large loaf of bread.... I couldn't bear to throw it out, that would be like throwing away 4 eggs, 3 cups of sugar, and 3 c. of flour......and on and on... Well, we ate one of those mini loaves--not too awfully bad, but definitely not real good! So, I searched online, and found this p.bread pudding recipe.... I took my large loaf of ruined bread, cubed it, put in a pie plate that had been sprayed with "pam" {store brand, really!} cooking spray.... In a sep. bowl, mix 2 eggs with 1.5 c. of half and half, and 1/4c.sugar. Pour on top, sprinkle a little nutmeg, and bake for 30ish min. in a 325*oven, or til center is set. Ohhh, it's soooo gooood!

Now, take some butterscotch icecream topping {caramel sauce}--a half a cup, add 2-3 T.of heavy cream, stir, and microwave til warm. Drizzle over the top of each serving...

If you want, {I wanted!} ...add a teaspoon or more of Rum to your sauce! And a little whipped cream on top~ Yummmmm!! And soooo easssyyyy!

Meet Mister & His Sister

We have 2 kitties. They are brother and sister, and are 8 yrs old. We've only had them for a couple of years...I'll tell the story of how we got them in another post....

{update 1/23: I'll tell ya the story later on, in this post!}

This picture was taken soon after we got them 6/09 This is our Little Guy
this picture was taken in Oct.2009~ But, when I look at it now they look so funny-and fat! Because.... they both have had a shower and a shave!

The hair flying around the house had been UnControlAble!! We hadn't eaten a meal without cat hair in it, in quite a while!!

this is Dec.2010, the first of the photos with their "lion cuts". This is Baby Girl, sitting next to Santa.

This is Mister, on Christmas Morning.
Here they both are: Mister & His Sister.
Here's a close-up of them.

This "fly by night" groomer {that came to our driveway!} did not do a very good job!
Mister & His Sister have had many names!

My hubby {Art} had a stroke in '08, and when he was finally able to come home from the hospitals and rehab therapies {glorified nursing homes}, he came home under the care of Hospice. So, we had people in and out all the time....

One day, his regular nurse {Marla, she came 3x a week} asked if we'd be interested in a couple of kitties.... One of her patients had died about a week before, and the husband couldn't look after them because he was a truck driver, who wouldn't be home for days on end. He was ready to go back to work, but had to figure out what he was gonna do with them!

Art's physical therapist {Jeannie} told him that they'd be "booby traps" when he was trying to walk, just like "throw rugs" or his oxygen hose could be. She really tried to stress to him that it was not a good idea to get them! {Not to mention the breathing problems he has, the cat hair and dander would surely not help his breathing!!}

Of course, I think, Because Jeannie stressed so much NOT to get them, is why he sided with Marla and wanted them.... the cute little photo of 2 kittens that she had with her certainly helped! That day, she called the guy, and he said we could come get them that afternoon....

So, in June of 2009, we picked up our 2 babies.... Their names were TinkerBell and Little Guy.

In the paperwork that was with them, I read that they originally had been named Guy and Darlin'. Since Jeannie had said they could be booby traps, Art insisted that we name them Booby and Trap!

Seriously, does it matter what you "name" them????

Cats don't come when you call them!

They come when They Want To!

Anyhow, Tinker-Stinker and Little Guy were not real happy about this move! {Can you imagine, 7 yrs in one place~then to have your "lady" disappear and your "man" to give you up???}

We were so happy to have them here, but they stayed in hiding most of the time.... Right away, I got them collars-to help US tell them apart! She got a bright pink one with a bell--a "tinker-bell!", and his had a black bow-tie on it.... I started calling him Tuxedo Man.

When my daughter was cat-sitting a week after we got them, Girly was crying so much, that Steph was saying "Don't cry.....Don't cry for me, Argentina!" And that was the birth of 2 more names! Argentina & Archie!

Also, because he's so pretty, we like to call him Beauty Boy, and because she's more than likely always got yucky stuff in the corners of her eyes, she's called Nasty Girl! ...or Ugly Betty, Art decided one nite! U.B. for short!

Just recently, Mister & his Sister have become their new titles....

They are both so much fun. It took her 5 months before she'd come out from behind the sofa for any length of time! Unless a man came to visit.... She L-O-V-E-S Men's Voices!!! I don't know why, but she comes running whenever there's a man talking!

Funny, the first night we had them, their former owner came to our place, a few hours after we got home-he'd forgotten their "papers" and wanted to get them to us.....Yeah, right, I'm sure he was missing them and wanted to see where/how we lived and how they were doing! She had not been out from behind the sofa, but they both came out of hiding when he started talking!!! They were rolling on the floor in front of him, and meowing!

Oh, it must have been so hard for him to lose them too, after just losing his wife!

A few days later, he called, to see how they were handling the move, and that if we wanted, he'd take them back, and he'd figure out something to be able to keep them and work, too.... {At that point, they were howling during all hours of the night, still trying to get used to their new home! Don't think I told him that! I let him know that they were fine, and he could stop and see them anytime...}

Here's our Little Naked Girl~

my daughter says she looks like a "snow bunny" with her new haircut. I picture a skier when she says this....hmmm, I wonder if she's talking about a rabbit?

This silly girl is afraid of children, while her brother loves them! He'll come up, and drop in front of 7 yr. old Arianna, when she comes over, and roll on the floor, meowing, waiting for her to pet him... He'll let her brush him for an hour! Girly, on the other hand, runs and hides when Ari comes over! And hisses at her if she tries to get to close!

Since their haircuts, in mid-December and the cold-spell at the same time, she now will actually sleep in Art's hospital bed with him. All Night!

Every once in a while, I would catch her, and put her up there, for him to pet for a few minutes, and of course she'd run as soon as she got a chance.... But, now that she's naked, she realized that was a warm place to sleep--especially when the electric blanket was on! --and he only can tolerate the low heat setting, so it's perfect for her, too!

Today, Art started singing "what's new, PussyCat?, woaaah, oh, woooahhh" And she came running over, and started singing with him: "Meee-ooooouuuu-owowowwwwww" It sounded just like she was trying help him sing! So cute! Makes ya wonder what goes on in their little heads! She was so funny, it was like she recognized that song, the way she came running, and meowing! I wonder if her former owner sang it to her? "PussyCat, PussyCat, I love you, yes I do..." Art was really getting into it, singing the whole thing to her.... She sure loves him!

here's what i made for dinner here today...

appx 1 pound chuck roast, cut into stew meat size chunks, seasoned with s&p,dusted with flour.
3-4 cloves garlic and 1 med. onion, chopped...
Heat olive oil in a big heavy pan on top of the stove, add meat, brown, and then add garl./onion. once onion is soft, add a little red wine, cook til reduced.

Then add about 4 c. broth {i used ckn, it's what i had}, and 4 potatoes, cut up, some carrots, and simmer for 2 hours... Yummy!

another giveaway!

http://aprimitiveplace.blogspot.com/

Go check out Tammy's blog and enter for her cute giveaway!

ok, i know, it's over....it's not Jan.14 anymore...

Can ya tell that I'm a Pro-Cras-Tinator????

Yesterday was National De-Lurking Day.... yeah, i didn't know what it meant either, put it in your search engine... and leave me a comment too, while you're at it! I've had a fun time, reading blogs tonight, but, as usual, I've commented on a minute amount, compared to what I've read! and now, I see that it's 3am, saturday, 1/15/11.... I gotta get into bed...

"minty bad breath"

~Here it is, my favorite time of the night --between midnight and 2am, ...where I'm sitting in front of the computer screen, reading about what other people did today -on their blogs, and after sitting here since about 9:30pm, I start dancing in my seat...I've really gotta pee, and my hands are FREEZING cold {sometimes I think about getting up to go put on some mittens!}. But, tonight, I think, I'll get up and turn our brand new electric fireplace back on--Art has control of the remote, and always shuts it off before we fall asleep....

So, I rise up out of my chair, hoping quietly enough to not wake the sleeping giant laying 6 feet away in his hospital bed, but, I don't succeed...

He awakens, so I bend over and give him a kiss, and {YUCK!} I say, without thinking before speaking: "You have minty bad breath"

.....You see ....His newest thing is to have a tin of Altoids on his bedside table, since his mouth gets so dry during the night....I tell ya, there's been more than once, that I've been woken out of a sound sleep, to some strange noises coming out of his wide open mouth!

Reminds me, of a dream I had the other night.... I could hear someone on the phone in another room, and they were deaf! I knew they had to be deaf, because their end of the conversation was unintelligible! I thought it sounded like some deaf girl, trying to talk to someone on the phone, and I'm thinking, "why don't you just SHUT UP! The person on the other end of the phone has no idea what you are trying to say!"

Finally, I woke up! And realized that that deaf girl, that was my husband! I was so disgusted at all that jibberish "she'd" been speaking for so long, I yelled over to his bed {he's in a hospital bed, didn't I mention that already? It's across the room from our bed, where I sleep all alone...},anyhow, I yelled "ART, SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" He continued to lay there, sound asleep, emitting weird noises. Eventually, I turned over onto my "good ear", so I couldn't hear him as loud... But, you can bet that I let him know in the morning how I thought he was a stupid deaf girl!

sidenote: This doesn't mean that I think all deaf girls are stupid--did you notice that I have a "good ear"!?!!??? I just was REALLY irritated with this deaf girl!!!

another sidenote: I'll be back to edit this when I can think again! It's after 3 am now, and my brain is shutting down! I don't know how Drs and Nurses do it.... 12 hour shifts, and longer! Ugghhh! I am beat!

I like to sleep in~~until-- like... unGodly late!!! I'm too ashamed to say how late, although it is before noon! I'm afraid that I may really "oversleep" {past noon!} on this "night"!

And I will be back .... like i said, to edit or finish this post!

ADDED ON: 2pm, Sat.1/15~~

Good Day! I did it! I awoke {and actually Got Out of Bed!} Before Noon {minutes, only, but Before Noon!}.....And even before Art!!!! :P

It's a beautiful warm {mid 60's} and sunny day, here in Florida, so I'm not gonna spend HOURS online.... Maybe I'll go for a ride... if the beast will start! It's been since Dec.1 that I've ridden! I tried, on Jan.1, but had to charge the battery overnight instead, and then it's been too darned cold!

Enjoy your day, blog friends!

Happy 2011~

A new year, a new look to my blog....

I'm trying to learn how to play with the settings, colors, etc, to make my blog look nicer....

Right now, I'm loving having my Beauty Boy's face at the top of my page!

I sure wish it was not 2am right now! I would like to sit here longer, but my whole body is telling me to go to bed!

So, another day has passed, and I still feel like my blog is waiting for me to make it better! ~Maybe tomorrow!

my thrifty pledge

sleeping beauty...

i don't know why..... i can't seem to post pix in the order i want to... so here's the girlie, on her new favorite sleepin' spot.... Art's bed. Since she's had all her hair shaved off, and we've gotten a cold spell, she's finally succumbed to sleeping with people!!

Here's our little girl kitty~sleeping on my bed. This is before her date with the groomer! She now is naked! ...And FREEZING! It's been so cold here in Florida, we might as well have snow! {Actually, I'd love to see snow! I miss it!} For all you that got snow, I hope you loved having a White Christmas!

Someone's having an awesome Giveaway!

http://www.robinbecksnest.com/2010/12/best-way-to-spread-christmas-cheer.html

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

The first time I saw this group, was Christmas, '02, I believe... My daughter got tickets for all of us---her new boyfriend {future husband}liked them, and so it was the first thing we really did as a family with him... It was a wonderful show, and I'm glad to have the memory of it, and I liked the show enough to go again, but for some reason, we never did... Fast forward: to Now ~2010; I now have a new husband, who has never seen this group, and his birthday is exactly one week before Christmas, so when I realized that TSO was playing nearby, I got tickets for us... Today, we went to the afternoon showing, and he loved it as much as I did the first time I saw them! We actually had an addition to our concert, in Tampa~ they also had "Cheap Trick" come out and do 2 songs~ The only thing that would have made our day better, would be to have come out of the arena and see it snowing out! Oh well, we know that's not gonna happen, when it's in the 50*'s .... But, the 50*'s are chilly for us! We had winter coats and mittens on!

it's so easy to lose track of time when i sit in this chair! .....oh, what good intentions I have!

I can spend hours, perusing blogs, losing myself in them, and just getting all "warm and cozy" feeling~enjoying the photos that you'all have posted, the stories you tell, and the music you share on your blogs!

.....It's beginning to feel alot like Christmas!....just because I've peeked into some of your blogs.....

So, I made myself a cup of ginger tea, to have while I'm getting lost online! {even though it's 80*outside right now, I'm singing Christmas songs!}

here's the recipe:

Into your tea mug: place some thinly sliced, fresh ginger, one slice of lemon, a sprig of rosemary or mint, and a little honey...Pour hot water over, let steep for 5 minutes. Enjoy! {This reminds me of TheraFlu tea~call me strange, I love the taste of that!} There's other variations, too, like iced....I'll have to grab the magazine off my kitchen counter, and post about it later....

my new sewing machine!

Look at what I found, at our local Hospice Thrift Store!

This had no price tag, so I asked "how much?", and the lady said, "we usually ask between $25 and $35 for these, depending on if they work." So, I said, "can we plug it in?"

She helped me carry it to the back room, where there was an outlet, and we checked it out!

Guess what? ...It runs fine! ...I'm in love!

As I was looking it over, she was putting a $25 tag on it, so I thought for a {quick} second, and removed the tag, folded the machine back into the table, and asked her to help carry it out to my car! {I thought it was kind of funny, that she put the low end price on it, after seeing that it worked!...I figured if I didn't grab it, it might not be there the next time I came in!~~Now, I'm wishing that I had offered $20!!!!}

As soon as I got it home, I washed it all down in the garage, and when it was clean enough to come into the house, it went right into my sewing room!!!!!

Side note: This room has not even had any sewing done in it yet, because I didn't have a table in there!~~About 6 months ago, we had a tenant move into what was then my sewing room, and about 2 weeks later, my daughter moved out of her bedroom, into her own place, leaving an empty room, carpeted with off-white berber carpet. I had planned to have this room, someday, whenever Stephanie moved out anyway. There was no way that I would be letting a tenant get the white carpet!!!--I knew better than that!!!

Anyhow: when the tenant moved in, he helped move my sewing/craft stuff out into a corner of the living room{where it stayed, boxed up, unusable until Steph moved, and then only slowly did items make it into her old room...} When Tom was helping me move stuff out into the living room, my sewing table was an old computer desk, with different level shelves, and a pull out keyboard section...and a little old swivel chair with it...He asked if he could keep that in his room... So, there went my sewing machine table!!! {and chair!} I knew I didn't have the space for it in the corner of the living room!! He even asked to keep the little transistor radio I had to keep me company while I was sewing! I was so happy the other day, to see that little radio had been "thrown out" in the garage~~guess he's happy with just the tv, now! And I asked for my little chair back, now that I have a table to sit at! It was so nice, to have my music playing, and getting to know my new machine!

I do need to search online to learn more about this machine. This computer is a loaner~mine is being repaired and will be home on Monday! I can't wait! This is not working well at all... I keep putting "singer model #AG" into google's search engine, and the computer freezes or tells me it can't open the page.... oh wait, I just got something...WOW! If I remember correctly {without getting up from this chair, to go out to my notebook in the other room!} it looks like this was made between 1941-1947!! Wow! I thought it was made after that--it is electric, no treadle, after all...

Ok, I got up! I checked my model number-it was made in 1946! In Elizabeth,NJ. And, now, once again, the computer is keeping me from going anywhere else!!! It won't open any other pages.... Guess I'll save this post, no I'll publish it, without the picture! Since I won't be able to download my pix from my camera until Monday...

I'll come back and edit and add pix then!

Happy Halloween!

Last week, we carved pumpkins, in our backyard...

Marcelo, Stephanie & Arianna

and here's Steph & Ari with ME!

Don'tcha just love the look on Ari's face?

I think she looks quite frightened! Eeew, Pumpkin Guts!

Hee-hee! Here's me, with my eyes on! ~~So I could read my blueprint while I was carving!

This is the first pumpkin EVER that I've carved and liked!!! {I've carved many, but never

liked how they've turned out!!!~~It was so easy to search online for a neat template, and then I

just made a quick sketch of it, and headed back outside to start carving!}

Ari, framing her jack o'lantern!

Our 3 pumpkins, all carved, and lit up!

Side note: I had to go back and edit this....

My photo of all 3 pumpkins disappeared,

and when i got it back,

it went to the top of my page...

oh well, it can stay there!

...And, this picture, of my masterpiece, it's sideways!

Wish I knew more about posting, to fix this!!!

also, I had written this all in a pretty shade of orange, and I

can't figure out why it goes back to black when I publish it!

The L Family Blog: Call Me Doctor Mom

this is Great!~~Just read my daughter's blog, and had to add it here! How I wish I was closer to my grandbabies!!!!

The L Family Blog: Call Me Doctor Mom