Just some home canned Danish Cherries added and you need more pans!

Yep yesterday I made the zucchini bread  and it was very good.  There are two loaves in the freezer, the little pie pan ones are eaten as are some of the muffins.  To think I still have six or seven bags of ground zucchini left in the freezer so I can make more whenever I want!

Pammie mentioned a sign she had seen in the vet’s office that prompted me to remember my little sign about the Big Girl Pants that Cindy gave to put on my fridge.  Now I have to buy another one that I found today in a magazine.  It reads, If I have to pull up my big girl pants and deal with it one more time the elastic is going to break and I really will have to show my ass! Boy I have to have that one for my wall!!!!!!

This afternoon Jay and I turned 10 pounds of blueberries into 19 half pints of Bluebarb jam.  That is a blueberry rhubarb mixture.  Also we made 21 half pints of just Blueberry jam.  There is a small bowl of whole berries left for  eating raw!!!!

Well that is it from (as Cindy calls it) Hooterville.  We are trying to stay comfortable in the heat and hope you can do the same.

One Done, Three To Go!

I decided to do one of everything then repeat the process.  I have started working on the Cherries and Holly Ornament now.

Wednesday we will pick up the blueberries for jam making.  We plan on canning regular and Bluebarb (Blueberries and Rhubarb).

This morning we picked zucchini from Jay’s container garden and prepared it for freezing.  It will make great bread this winter.  In fact I plan on making two loaves in the morning from some I left out of the freezing process.

It is Jay’s turn to visit Dr. Hukill on Thursday so I get to sit with my Robin Cook novel and wait for him.

I received a delightful anniversary gift from Mike and Dar the other day that contained four boxes of jar lids, a package of return address stickers, two pounds of  Michigan coffee, and some Scrub buds (Amway that I haven’t had in over five years).  It is an item I dearly love and have missed having.  Thank you my friends.  Also a moment out to thank everyone for the Get Well and Anniversary cards I have received.  They are thumb tacked all around the walls.

Take care and be happy until next time!

He also wants 50 pounds off me starting now.  He said if I want to feel better I have to do this.  After looking at how the palms of my hands are so calloused from using the walker to get around I must agree with him.  So starting today I’m 227 pounds which means the scales will have to read 177 lbs to reach my goal.  Don’t know how long it will take but if it helps me see 76 years old next year I have to do it.

Cleaned up the petunia baskets and it looks like a second chance for them.

When I started cutting away the dead stems I was sure the plants were gone.  But cleaning them up, good old fashion rain water, plus some help from Jay and Cindy watering seem to have help them get restarted.

The Butterfly Bush is now blooming.

I sometimes think that it blooms after the butterflies have moved on but I’ll watch for visitors anyway.

Purple blooms are starting to show.

The heat is playing hob with my ability to get through the day, my appetite, and my desire to move around outside.  I seem to want to lay down under a softly whirling fan and sleep in the afternoon.   But I did find one distraction to help me survive the day.

My Sparkles Are Back!

Yes the box with the Christmas Ornament Kits got pulled out a couple of days ago and I sit down with it during the day and loose myself in the project.  I also pick up Robin Cook’s novel Crisis for a little diversion.

I told Cindy and David not to come up today because I thought I could handle the chores that had to be done and they needed a day off after coming up here for so many Saturdays to help.

Have a great weekend and do something exciting!

36 years ago--Pammie, Peggy. Me, Jay, Dan, and Wes

Every year we say is our Anniversary on the 20th or the 21st.  Every year I go upstairs and haul out the wedding album and look  for the date.   This situation occurs because we were going to be married on my Mom and Dad’s anniversary But because it didn’t fall on a weekend that year we had to change it.  Obviously there was no running up stairs for me with a broken leg and Jay would never find the book so we had to wing it.

Any way a Happy Anniversary to my dear hubby from his mixed up wife!!!!

Yesterday resulted in 13 1/2 (8 0z.) jars of Carrot Cake Jam made with 1 1/2 cups less of sugar than the recipe called for with a desirable result.  We will have to cut back on the ground cloves also next time.

With the help of my old operator chair (bought from Michigan Bell Telephone Company roughly 25 years ago at their garage sale) and an old bath mat all hot things were  transported safely around my kitchen.  I must admit however the trek around the grocery store before did make moving a bit painful but by golly I did it.

This morning it is already 80 degrees out and I managed to maneuver around the berm and dead head all the Cosmos.  I pulled a few tall weeds and tried to clean up the Petunias in one of the hanging baskets.  I wasn’t able to keep them watered with the broken leg so they suffered badly.  I try to get at the other one tomorrow.

Friday is a two hour physical at Dr. Hukill’s office so I’ll be driving in by myself to keep it.  I must admit it is fun to get out and drive a bit after being cooped up for a few weeks.

Have a happy and productive week every one!!!

This morning after six weeks and two days I finally got both feet in the tub/shower which meant I got a real live shower all at one time!!!  What a joy after all this time of washing up in parts and always finding soap not rinsed off or a dry spot that I couldn’t reach!!

The other victory was walking the full length of the grocery store about five times using the grocery cart as my walker.  It made my travels go a little faster and me feel like I was almost walking without aid.  The sleeping at night is still broken up into two hour increments but it is the bladder not pain that is waking me.

Tomorrow while Jay is in dialysis I’m going to make Carrot Cake Jam.  I have everything I need in the kitchen and have a solution for carrying water, jars to the canner and back to the counter.  I need only to place a cover over the seat of one of my kitchen chairs.  It has rollers on it and I can support myself as I move the needed items around.  I will take a bit longer than normal but the results make trying it worth it.

The next project will be blueberries I think.  But I need Jay to help on that one.

Well in two days Jay and I will have been married 36 years—one of those ” they said it wouldn’t last things”– I guess we decided that it was a second chance for both of us and we weren’t going to screw it up!!!!  Oh we get grumpy with one another but when you stop to think about what each of us has done to make it work we deserve a little pissing and moaning once in a while!!!!

I think I’ll get out one of my Christmas ornament kits as soon as these two jam projects are finished.

I did finish Richard Dawkin’s  The Greatest Show On Earth and even if I can’t say I understand it all it was informative and is now sitting in the stairway waiting to go the one of the book shelves upstairs.

Well I hope Mahlia, Diane’s cat.  and Lucky, Maria’s dog are improving because even animals become a part of ones family and it hurts to know they are ill.

Take care everyone and do try to laugh!!!!

Dark eyed Susans?

In the spot that Miss Daisy and her sisters lived last year,  at the end of the deck,  the new tenants are the Susan sisters.

This entry is a compilation of the happening over the last week or so–not in chronological order or listed by importance.

Last Monday we canned 29 half pints of Dutch Apple Pie Jam because we were out of it.  Four jars have already left the premises and the rest are boxed up and ready to go down to the food room.  The canning equipment is neatly stacked in front of the  buffet waiting for the next project to hit us.  We have definitely cut back on the amount of  jars we will can this year so the give away amounts  will have to be judicially decided.

D-I-L Debra drove me to Dr.  Hemming’s office yesterday and the results were good.  The healing is coming along, I can do a partial weight bearing on the leg.  He said that the swelling was normal and that it will slowly clear up as time passes.  I told him I was driving and he was OK with that as long as it was not long trips.

The thermometer on the porch reads 62 degrees this morning but the sun is already climbing in the East.  I’m not sure what temperature we are suppose to reach today but whatever!

My neighbor Phylis has suffered a stress fracture in her foot after working on her garden getting prepared for the Garden Walk last week end.  She had over three hundred people come to view her work.  I told her that the foot thing, like my leg was caused by something in the water.  The only advice I have for everyone is watch where you step and be extra careful ’cause it ain’t no fun to fall McGee.

Acknowledging my D-I-L Debra  and son Wes for dropping everything to get me to the doctor even though it is an extra 80 miles to help me.  Also I big thank you to daughter, Cindy for washing the dog and me, sweeping, changing the bed, taking care of cat, dog, and bird items as needed and generally making the old homestead a bit neater than I can accomplish right now.  A big thank you to S-I-L David for for helping move things that needed to be move and taking Jay shopping where ever he had to go to keep us stocked up.   Also to Phyllis’ husband Steve for mowing our yard every time he does his which is probably about six acres total.  A thank you to Shawn for driving up to our home to cut both my and Jay’s hair last Sunday morning.   Another thank you to Jeannie and Edna for providing transportation as we needed it.  You never know how wonderful people can be until you are in trouble.

Taken roughly a month ago

Getting outside is almost a daily thing now and the next challenge is to get into the truck and try driving around the driveway.  If that works well I will try the road.  I may not be able to do much shopping but I will be able to Jay there to do it.  Our Brandy is in need of a haircut so that is going on the list of destinations.  But when you wake up at 8 am and the thermometer already says 80 degrees getting out in the heat is not the most appetizing prospect of the day.  But we will take it one step at a time and hope for the best.

My baby's birthday today.

Born on 7/7/72 at 7:27 am and weighing 7 1/2 pounds Cindy Catherine joined the family and was welcomed with loving arms.  Happy Birthday Cyn and many more!!!!

Please send you wishes to Silverfox that her Lucky will come out of this latest situation satisfactorily.

Also my wishes to you that health, and work wise things will be improving quickly.  Keep smiling cause that is what we all do best.

momma

The snapdragon end

The Cosmos End!

Still blooming and still lovely.

With strawberry season almost over Jay had our friend Edna take him over to Wolvertons for 10 quarts of berries on Monday. Between Jay and me we got them processed.

Don't need two feet to make jam!

Jay did the cooking and I filled the jars for processing.

26 half pints of strawberry and 16 half pints of strawberry/rhubarb.

We were worn out but by golly we did it.  I have 5 cups to process as berries in juice to do today then that project is finish.

I got through the e-mail but my butt says I have to read blogs tomorrow.   Take care everyone!!!!!

Wes and Deb ended up taking to  the Dr. in my truck  and from there to an imaging office to check for blood clots.  Results were negative so Dr. Hukill called in a prescription for Furosemine and the children brought me home.

They left to go home them selves about three hours later than what they planned but reassured that it was all right.

Saturday when Cindy and David came up they picked up my prescription and I started taking it.

My Saturday helpers.

David took Jay grocery shopping while Cindy cleaned cages, the cat box, and a bit of vacuuming, changed the bed, did some of the washing and generally got me ready for another week of hobbling around.

The leg pain is still getting out of bed in the middle of the night.  I bathe it with cold compresses, take a pain pill, try to walk off some of the pain and go to the chair to put up my leg.  I know it will eventually get better but it is difficult to put up with now.

Take  care everyone and be careful.  I have to stand up now!