The Rains Have Returned

   April here in SW Missouri,  is usually filled with days of rain, but this year mostly dry and very windy with up and down temperatures. The weather forecasters did get the rain day correct this time-haha.  It started late in the day yesterday, we had rain most of the night as well. A much needed rain. I only got to cutting half the grass here which means the other half will be really tall-especially with a week of rain- every day forecasted with rain.

  Larry has always loved the different ornamental grasses so we bought a couple to start from seeds, and I ordered two plants-they came in yesterday and were packed very well. I didn't want to plant them outdoors yet with all this rain coming in though. I will get the rest of the seeds started this weekend..  Larry's vision is to lure the different ducks here on the lake to use the grasses for nesting. So these will get planted near the lake front. I love that he still thinks of tomorrow, with all his setbacks.

 We did decide to go with Directv streaming service for our tv programming . The price is locked in for 2 years and is the same price we were paying with our electric co-op with more channels and no dish-I like that part. It is definitely a learning curve though as the system works a lot different than what we are used to. Just need to take the time to figure it all out.

   The Roku streaming had no phone number to contact their customer service to ask questions. I did figure out that Roku is the tool for the streaming service and then you buy all the packages separate of what you want to watch. In the end Directv was just easier for us and Larry got his movies and I got the sports. We bought quality tv's about 10 years ago and with this streaming service the colors are even more vibrant-like a newer tv. That was a bonus.  In this new age of tv so many choices, and with streaming you can add you tube and lots of other channels to it-nice for a larger screen.

  Last night with the storms coming through I couldn't sleep-I don't sleep through storms very well-so I finished writing the 10 letters to send out to seniors through the Letters Against Isolation project. I am enjoying the process. Having fun dressing up the letters and envelopes with stamps and stickers.. Here is a photo of the backs of the letters. These get mailed to the same facility so I make each letter different. A nice way to "play" with my stamps and also with the wax and seals.

   Yesterday morning I did some errands and the food store had lovely strawberries-yum I also buy blackberries and blueberries which are my favorites in fruits. Thinking of baking up angel food cakes for us-wheat and also a gluten free version. I also bought ingredients for cheesecake in case I decide to bake that for the weekend.

  Happy Friday and weekend. thanks for visiting.

 

Un Paper Towels

   Good morning, I have another post for Earth Day-see also my previous post on re using coffee grounds.

I have been seeing more of the un paper towels around the web. Free the Ocean sells them too but for me rather expensive. Lots of choices on Etsy-some of those listings even have snaps to make the roll easier. There are tutorials on how to roll your cloth towels onto the roll too which I think I would prefer..

Also different choices-ideas on what fabrics to use. Flannel cotton, feed sack cottons. These would be an easy first sewing project too. Those with young children I think these would be fun to make and use with colorful prints.

  I like the feed sack cotton option but some of those are really stiff.  I read about repurposing old flannel sheets. We mostly only use flannel sheets so when they are worn out-which takes years-I cut them up into rags. I wish I would have thought about making them into paper towels as well.

  My craft/art room does still have a stash of fabrics-so I am going to check that out soon. I do use a lot of paper towels, in the kitchen for sure.

  Have you made these un paper towels or bought them? Do you like them?

Here are some DIY links I found. 

This one is from Paper & Stitch and I found it to be very informative She also has an unsewn version

I think the fabric choice is up to what you have on hand in your stash (or want to buy)  as long as it is absorbent like cottons

From HGTV  I found this post about 8 best alternatives to paper towels   Bamboo, Microfiber cloths, and others-these are all for purchase-alternatives to paper towels that are re useable.

There are many tutorials and you tube videos on making these un paper towels. Different sizes as well.

 Here is one that is the size when you tear off a small sheet . Here is one using terry cloth

I even found a pdf pattern on etsy  but there are many free ones online too.

Here is one more tutorial that is Very good. I like her idea of sewing a big X through the towels to keep things in place after washing drying.  I have also seen on other tutorials to top stitch around the edges which I like as well , She also shows about sewing on the snaps. Below is a photo from her site.

I am hoping you enjoyed this post. Please share if you have made un paper towels. I plan on sewing up some soon

Earth Day-Recycle Coffee Grounds

   For my Earth Day post this year where I like to search out different ways to repurpose or recycle things-I chose coffee grounds. (Earth Day is this coming Monday)

  Many of us brew coffee at home, so I wanted to research ways to repurpose the coffee grounds.

   When I lived on land for gardening, I would add the grounds to my compost pile or work into the soil. 

  If you are able to compost and garden then coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen and the worms love them too in your compost or garden soil..

   I found all sorts of ideas to repurpose here  for inside your home and outside your home and family fun ideas  A few more ideas here  I think this article was the best-all sorts of ideas for using coffee grounds

  I even found a post about making candles with coffee grounds and old candles here

photo from above link

and to close I found a recipe for brownies using coffee grounds here

Happy Earth Day and also Happy Birthday to Elizabeth from Altered Book Lover here

The Young Woodpecker Flew in From Canada

    Some of you may remember this sweet painting by Christine.  I fell in love with it and asked if she sells her works? She does.

   I couldn't find just a couple of the little stands or protective sleeves locally so bought what I needed from Amazon. I set it up on our mantel amongst some of my gnomes He looks like one of our pileated woodpeckers here in Missouri

   This woodpecker has me smiling

Good Morning Monday-Ramblings

 Happy Monday and New Week!

   Missouri gets crazy weather this time of year, over the weekend high 80's F full sun, but no wind. Today is to be another high 80 F degree day but storms are coming n, so it is very overcast and eerie out there and very calm at the moment. Lots of fisherman on the lake since dawn this morning. Overcast is good fishing weather.

  I did need to turn the air conditioner on last night. We had gotten up to 87 degrees f  on Sunday and the house was quite warm. Needed to cool it down for Larry's heart health. Hopefully we will not need it again for awhile.

  I didn't get out to do what I wanted to over the weekend in the flower garden area. Hot sun is not a good time to transplant. This morning would be good though-no sun. We'll see. 

    We find out this morning when the supervisor stops by if Larry is approved for more physical therapy-hoping so since he is coming out.

  Not to complain, but I am hoping my eyes get better. Sometimes I think the drops are making them worse, and still getting used to the new stronger prescription for my glasses.

 I did sign up for the free trial with Amazon Prime over the weekend-but scheduled to cancel last night. These streaming services have such old material-old movies, old tv shows that are the free services. I get free shipping at Amazon when I buy $35.00 minimum so I just save items in my wish list til I have that amount. Their shipping is always fast too even without Prime.  We live rural so their free grocery delivery service can't be used here. If we want to listen to music we turn on the radio so their music is not worth it to us. It just doesn't fit us for the money.  I cancelled but they kept the free trial open for the 30 days before they cancel. Also could not get their service to load on the app on Larry's tv so I just checked it out on my computer  We each have a tv-Larry's in the bedroom and the one I use in the living room area. We watch completely different programs and we don't turn the tv's on til evenings. I felt guilty about this for a long time, but I had a friend at work that told me that's what her and her husband do  since their interests for tv shows were totally opposite-that's us..

  Before we moved to the lake we had used Directv since they first came on the market-thinking over 25 years. I called them about their streaming service and would get their Premier package do to all the sports and movies. The sale price would be locked in for two years. They would send that plug in like roku has for the back of the tv through the mail-so no techs which is nice.  .The first device is free but the second device would be 7.00 a month (usa dollars) so that is that wasted money for rental.  I am actually ready to just go with this service but Larry still wants to talk with roku to understand the pricing.  What a "pain" to even have to deal with this haha  We have a year but I would rather just do this and be set up going forward. This Directv package is loaded with movie channels and sports channels and my Hallmark channels and DIY shows so I am ready to go back to them..

  The hot weekend finished off the early lilac blooms, and the later flowering lilacs are in full bloom now.  I was so happy when I found these lilac bushes blooming that first spring we had moved here

This is the ground cover-this one really grew  had bought this a few years ago from the Amish greenhouse. I think it is phlox

However the second one is the one I need to move-the creeping thyme is choking it out-I should have moved this last fall after I had gotten the left side of this rock wall area prepared to plant I may just take some of the above one to transplant as well

I took a photo of the bison fiber blended with shetland wool. the bison fiber was sold as a soil amendment so I went through it and ended up with one pillowcase "bag" for the soil and two bags I thought I could spin,  Blended with my hand carders with the shetland wool it came out pretty decent. Once this niddy noddy is full of the spin yarn-I am going to really soak it in warm soapy water and see how it holds up.  It is bulky but that's ok for weaving something with it.

     I still had a couple packages of baby back ribs in the freezer since last early summer. Yesterday was the perfect day to make one of these.  I did them in the oven and they turned out soooo delicious. I need to write down how I cooked them.

Happy new week every one

Update: whoo hooo Larry got approved for twice a week physical therapy for the next three weeks. They found out that if they ask for once a week physical therapy,  insurance turns them down because they think it is not really needed just maintenance..  I was surprised when a month ago they dropped Larry to once a week.  So this is good news, especially since Larry's latest setback.

 I so much appreciate your continued healing thoughts thank you

Good Morning & Catch Up

   Good morning dear friends,

Waking up this morning-Wow no strong winds-finally. We had most of April with storms and winds so far. There was so much tree limb debris and leaves in the lake that for several days the lake was brown. Today we have a mostly blue lake again. Woke up this morning to lots of boaters very early just before dawn. One of the big bass tournaments started today.

We are headed into a warm stretch of weather today too. In the 70's F and the weekend will be in the 80's F I am planning on getting some plants dug up and moved this morning.

  A couple years ago I bought and planted two forsythia bushes that have hardly grown-so I am moving those up near the house near our property line to the left looking out the front door. I will enjoy them more there too.  I also have a patch of ground cover with lovely pink flowers that  needs to be moved. It is getting crowded out from the creeping thyme,  I also have lots of creeping thyme to move over to the left side of the steps and along the rock wall near the house-like the right side is set up, and extra plants will get moved down to the lake front. This thyme spreads by roots underground so it needs to be controlled.

Larry has always loved ornamental grasses so we set up a spot near the lake front to plant some, and also near the rocks at the lake's edge. We have numerous ducks here, that Larry is hoping will nest amongst these grasses.  bought seeds of two different grasses and also ordered three small plants-all three are different species. Hoping these will not grow too slow.

 Larry is doing better this week. He is eating better but still less than usual. The leg that was crushed is back to causing a lot of pain so difficult to continue exercises and extra walking. The supervisor was out this week from home care. Larry has had 6 months which is a long time for this type of care. He will be pleading the case to Medicare insurance that Larry needs another month of sessions with the therapist. The trip up and down the steps, in and out of a car was too much at the time, even though it was important to do. We will know next week if approved or not..

  Thank you all for your continued support and prayers-means a lot to us.

On another totally different topic. I got an email this week that our electric co op where we get our fiber connections for the tv, phone, and internet will be dropping the tv service end of June 2025. Was quite the surprise. Their prices have gone up the last few years but for their everything package-movies and sports-they are still less expensive than Directv service. I really do Not want to go back to Directv-we had them for around 25 years or more-they have soooo many added expenses to the cost of the package.  So we are looking into streaming services with no contracts-I think this is the future of tv right now too.  Looking into Roku and perhaps adding amazon prime streaming. At least we have a year to figure this out. I have two friends that use and like Roku.

I don't have any photos to share-but the lilacs are blooming now, lots more dandelion flowers blooming too. I was able to get the area of our property here cut down with the weed eater-twice now just before lots of rain. a good thing as that area grows fast and tall.

  I am gradually getting to the point I can do some things I enjoy-like spinning and writing letters. I have a niddy noddy full of the spun buffalo and shetand fibers blended with carders. Turned out pretty well considering the buffalo fibers were sold for soil improvement.  I will soak it well and see how it looks soon.

   Enjoy the rest of your week

It's been Rough

   It has been a rough several days.  

   A long time friend passed a couple weeks ago-one that Larry visited with a lot online. We knew him and his late wife from when we lived in Illinois.   Another friend that was our neighbor in Illinois before retirement suddenly had a heart attack with no warning and passed. His family is just devastated  The blessing in this is that he had called Larry on the phone and talked for over an hour a little over a week ago.

  On  April 1st late afternoon Larry couldn't breath, he felt like he was drowning. He had such a bad experience at the Lake Hosp that he would not let me call 911. I gave it an hour and talked him into letting the paramedics check him out, and I promised again he would Not go to that hospital.  All his stats were good but they suggested the hospital for a checkup.  There are two hospitals in Jefferson City that are just a little over an hour's drive. So he chose St Mary's Hosp.  That ended up being an excellent choice. They had doctors on staff in the emergency area, a cardiac doctor on call, they ran lots of  tests and  x rays. Soooo much security too-never seen this before-a metal detector we had to walk through and police everywhere. We learned this is a new hospital just 10 years old and is a catholic hospital. We have always found most of these to have excellent care and food. The food was "real" food here not frozen and reheated bad quality foods. The rooms were large and spacious like a hotel. Modern design within the hospital.

  Larry had fluid around his heart and in his lungs. Larry has had congestive heart disease since 1999,  so this has gone to the next stage and is much worse now. Recovering from the fall and being stuck in bed for so many months has not helped his condition. I think also the trip to the drivers license place was a bit too much along with our steep steps up and down. That has been a bit of a setback afterwards. He has lost a lot of weight, no apatite now, and is freezing cold at night.  I need to figure out how to keep him warmer and make foods he really likes.

 Our friends here at the lake that live 5 minutes away drove me there and then the next day to pick him up. We are so grateful for them.  Larry doesn't like hospitals and wanted to go home. They wanted him to stay another day or two. So when we brought him home the next day, he was very very weak from no sleep and everything else. Today we had a telephone visit with his cardiac doctor we have had here in Missouri-he is a 3 hour drive away in Springfield Missouri now since the move to the lake house.  He agreed with us about one of the dosages of medicines was too much that the hospital prescribed. So I feel better about that. They wanted him to take Lasix everyday and that will damage kidneys-we were told that years ago when he first started taking it-only as needed.

  I just needed to write this down and "talk to someone" so that's why I am posting this.  This is life, and will always have it's challenges and heart breaks.

  The good news where we live we missed the golf ball size hail and tornadoes, but not the 2 1/2 inches of rain and strong winds. On the way home from the hospital that night we drove through a wicked storm getting home-made it home just in time before I got full blown car sick.  We have been cold and windy all month so far.  Today the sun is shining with no wind so far. a good thing.

Happy Easter To All That Celebrate & This and That

    Today we got up into the mid 70's early afternoon Morning was pretty nice too so I got back to the bringing down that pile of soil and getting it spread out.

   I got allot done today, hopefully I can finish that tomorrow, so I can get to weed eating the grass before it turns cold and rainy Monday.  It is really tall already which I suspected. I did a bit yesterday.

  The pretty dandelions are up so I collected a bunch. I will dry them and then steep in olive oil for a few weeks and strain-a good healing oil  If you are on Pinterest they have many recipes for making oils, salves and such with dandelion flowers. Just save some for the bees-as they usually are the first of the blooms.

  They start to dry pretty fast-this photo was taken a couple hours after I laid them out here.

      Larry had our friend bring down his suburban to the top of the steps so he could get back in easier as it is flatter right there. However, he had him drive over my pile of soil-not happy about that at all oh well. 

  Larry is in extreme pain today which I figured could happen as it is two days after his trip to get his driver's license. He takes no pain killers at all any more so he has to struggle through it.

  I wanted to share a lovely gift I received from one of my slow mail friends Debra last year. I don't remember if I had shared this piece already. I really love it and so thoughtful for our lake home.  I had it sitting on the mantel, but this week I found a spot to hang it. Thanks again Debra  This is on a wall in our dining area and the walls have wallpaper. The colors of the painting blend in nicely. especially the greens

  My new blog friend and slow mail friend mentioned she had made a pot of split pea soup. I am thinking I need to make some as I haven't in several years now. I always keep dried beans and lentils in storage so I grabbed a pound bag, and a bag of frozen diced ham. Soooo good. Larry can handle one meal and then no more for awhile-so I froze the rest of the soup

     I have not thought of what to prepare for our Easter dinner. Nothing too fancy as it is just the two of us and Larry is Jewish. Ham is so salty that I don't cook with that too often and we just had it in the soup a few days ago.

    I did bake the keto cheesecake that turned out delicious, and I had sliced up fresh strawberries but they were not very ripe and juicy. I miss not having farmer's strawberries.

  I am off to watch the first KC Royals baseball game that I recorded and also the KC Blues hockey game which I recorded as well.

  Happy weekend, Hoping you have nice weather too.

Books?

   Those of you that make your own journals-do you have this book or have you seen it?

      I don't have a library nearby-never have lived close to one since we always have lived rural so if I have an interest in a book I buy it.

    I am more careful now and really think about it before I buy a physical book now-then I search the net for the best price.

  

  

Thoughts on this book if you are familiar with it.

  Also I am intrigued with this book too.

  I could not find much information about this one, it's a new release.

   Thank You

Positive Thoughts and Energy Needed

 Good morning, I am requesting positive thoughts and energy for Larry this morning.

    Today is the day he decided to tackle our steep steps, and have our friend drive him to get his drivers license renewed. First day out of the house since his bad fall early October.

   His license needed renewed back in October and he had 6 months to renew before it would become a big hassle to do. That is around the second week in April but didn't want any chances of missing that date.

  He did well with the steps but was really pale as he got in the car. Larry is someone that never gives up no matter the struggle

 Thank you

                   (image found online)

Update: 12:30 pm  

    It all went well thank you all. 

Larry was really really nervous about this. He made it up the steps and back home again with no major issues. He will be in allot of pain though later today.

    Thankfully the drivers license place was not real busy, so that went well-I put everything he needed in a envelope-insurance, paid taxes, a check that they filled out for him.

    Next door is an old fashioned barber shop but after getting his new license it was full of customers. Hoping next week his friend will take him back to the barber shop and get gas in his car. He said he had a quarter tank left-thinking why didn't you let our friend pump gas for you/? Next time he can do that too

   Larry has always been a fighter but this was scary for him-but he accomplished it-so happy for him

Update from Post Office Visit

    I was really upset and not happy with my letters for seniors in nursing homes being sent back to me last Saturday.

I get stressed out fast and then worry about everything-so I was anxious early this morning. Thankfully the postal lady I like to talk to was there.

 The note on my returned letters made no sense at all, and also I came prepared to defend my wax seals.  The sealing waxes I use are made by nostalgic expressions and if you purchase their mailable flexible wax there is no problem with the postal machines. My letters with seals have traveled well to Germany, Spain, Greece Canada and the States.

   So she is looking at my returned cards and says Oh I see what is happening--it is not your seals at all but rather the envelopes are too small and may get caught in the postal machines. What??? I bought these cards and envelopes from Current. She shows me on their envelope chart that they are 1/4" too small.  She says I am going to send these out again as I really think they will make it through the machines.

  I am thinking what happened is that someone in this post office did not send them out to get cancelled but pulled them and returned them to me. I am hoping there is no more issues.

 I had stopped purchasing cards and address labels from Current a few years ago because their shipping is very expensive and they also add on another carrier fee which is ridiculous. I would stock up on their pretty usa made cards and envelopes when they had a sale on them or buy one get another free. It is not acceptable that they are using envelopes that don't meet the postal service standards. For sure now won't be buying from them again. I love their offerings and most everything on their site is USA made which I loved but no more.

 I looked around on Etsy and found some gorgeous address labels. Her turn around is a bit slow but I found her when she was having a big sale. I think they are prettier than Current's labels, so can't wait to see them in person.

  So I am hoping no more drama, especially about using the wax seals-I love adding those to my envelopes-and so fun too. Smiles  I had read online when I was researching this wax more-that some post offices will not accept the seals or they charge 44 cents more to hand cancel.  Quite a few years ago I bought allot of handmade sealing wax and she was using vintage molds-I loved them but they would break right off the envelopes and even if I used them on the letter inside they would break. So lesson learned must use a machinable flexible modern sealing wax.

  I am reading that my east coast friends are getting hammered with snow-we are still dealing with very very strong winds and now it's raining all day too. I got back home just in time before the winds were their strongest and the rain came steady

.

Good Morning Sunday

 Good morning Friends, and I can't believe how fast March has gone by and next Sunday Easter already.

   I found the right eye drops so my eyes are doing much better but they still do not feel back to normal. My new glasses should be ready in another week or so. All takes time I know

  Over the weekend since it was so cold and very very strong winds I made us a pot of chili-will freeze most of it for later-I  always end up with a huge pot. This one turned out really delicious.

  I found nice fresh strawberries last week when I went food shopping, so decided to bake up gluten free cupcakes to put the strawberries over. The rest I will make up a keto frosting for the rest of the cupcakes (to cut down the amount of sugars)  This photo turned out a little dark. I made up a gluten free yellow cake and added strawberry extract to it.

  I hadn't been happy with my homemade ice  cream the last few times I made it, so I went back to purchasing ice cream. Just have to be careful with the sugar in it and serve smaller portions. I have not found a really good store bought no sugar ice cream as of yet.  

  I have also been finding these yummy large blackberries in the stores too.  At the woods house I would pick the wild ones-so good

     I started writing to seniors in rehabs and nursing homes and of course I am using my sealing wax. I use a special modern sealing wax that can handle the machines in the postal systems. I have also sent many international cards this way as well-with no issues at all. Last month I sent 10 of these to the seniors.

   I spent many hours putting 12 cards and letters together and yesterday this is what was in my mailbox. What this mail person means by my letters being a box I have no idea. Sooo upsetting and they also want another 44 cents on each card-I will be at the post office Monday morning right when they open. This has really upset me-and I have been mailing cards this way for over 4 years now.

  and the postal person put two of these rubber bands on my stack of cards which has squished them all together-Not happy at all. 

  and also-interesting-yesterday I mailed off a letter to my new slow mail friend with a wax seal which they took and then found this as a replacement-strange mail day

   I won't complain about our very cold and windy days since I am reading that many of you on the east coast are getting lots of snow. We had a call from a friend that lived next to us in northern Illinois before retirement. He and his wife moved to Arizona but were back to that area since his wife needed to do in person additional training for her job in home in Arizona. He called to chat with Larry and said he had to get used to snow again as that area was getting hammered with lots of snow and wind.  That must have been a surprise for them for sure as they have been living in Arizona for many years now. It was a nice check up with an old friend for Larry 

  Each day this week I have been carrying down half bucks of soil from that pile up on top of the steps. Since I have not done much in physical activities like this since last fall-I am taking it slow and only doing 4 or 5 half buckets. I am using a tall 5 gallon bucket. Yesterday I could see I am now half way through the pile-progress haha.

 Well this post is my ramblings for today smiles-Happy new week.

Sunshine and Warmer Days Ahead & This and That

 Good morning friends,

   We have full sunshine today so far, still a bit windy and gradually warming back up. Am hoping to work outdoors this afternoon for a bit.

  My eyes are still bothering me allot, but the eye doctor visit yesterday went well. My eyes are less dry after the two weeks of drops and he says I must continue with at least  3 times a day. The brand he suggested hurt my eyes so my eyes did not like something that was in those. I asked about the brand Refresh instead and he said yes just no generic brands as those have preservatives and other things in them. I also ordered a much needed new pair of prescription glasses. Quite expensive as they usually are-but my insurance will refund me back a little bit of it, and the new insurance should pay most of the eye visit. The glasses I have now I have never liked as they were not right and I gave up on them replacing the lens-so I am so looking forward to my new ones. I have put up with the ones I have now since 2019 too expensive to just go to another eye doctor back then. 

  I was quite surprised with all the different choices from Refresh eye drops-even one for computer and e reader usage. I will buy that one for sure as I spend allot of hours reading on my kindle. I never liked putting drops in my eyes but I guess I will be getting used to it-smiles.

  I ordered a bunch of stickers from Amazon last week to add to my letters that I am mailing out to seniors or those in rehab through Letters Against Isolation.  I never really used stickers before, but I think they will be fun to use in my cards and  letters. I found some beautiful botanical stickers from a couple different sellers. Hoping they arrive this week. Only part about mailing these is you don't know if the receiver enjoyed your letter or not but I think they may look forward to the letters after awhile. This is worldwide so if interested they may have it set up where you live.

  I do really enjoy mailing out and receiving slow mail letters. I want to get back to that too this  month. Getting back to more normal too after Larry's accident. He is walking better with his walker but still tires very fast. I am concerned about our steep steps out of the house-but positive thoughts on that .

  I made a deep cast iron skillet of an apple-pear-raisin crisp early this morning. It just came out of the oven and smells so good. We will finish up the corn beef slices in reuben sandwiches, for  today's meal. We love home cooked corn beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes so I made that for us over the weekend and sliced up the meat for sandwiches-yum Larry's favorite. Sorry no photos this time.

  Larry spotted 4 loons in front of his dock a bit ago-they are so fun to watch as they are diving ducks and I love their song too. That was such a surprise for me to see loons here-I think they migrate from colder areas.

    Enjoy your day my friends

  

  

 

Spring is Early Here in Missouri & Spring Card

   Good morning Thursday,

      March here in SW Missouri is feeling more and more like April every day now.

Rains every other day-so things are getting ahead of me already. I checked yesterday and for sure I need to cut grass as soon as things dry out again. sigh not ready for that yet.

I wanted to share a beautiful spring card I received in the mail from Viola in Germany. This was her first handmade card and it is really lovely. Fabrics and stitches Thank you so much Viola-I love it!

  Below is a close up

Happy (early) Spring

Been Working Outdoors

   Another beautiful day with no wind. We did get storms last night so the dirt pile I am moving with a bucket and a shovel was too wet today. Instead I grabbed some large bags and filled up 4 huge ones with leaves. The leaves were tucked in around the garage, vehicles and more. Lots more to do-I will burn these once they get dried.

  I don't have a good way too compost these leaves living on small area of land with neighbors on both sides. I could keep them in their bags and let them decompose that way. I may do that and see what happens.

   I did get a dozen of my bottle "greenhouses" planted yesterday, I posted photos on my Instagram page. I planted the two cottons, indigo, and two other dye plants for yellows and they are good for tea as well.

  Any of you that have dyed with indigo fresh leaves? I did that at the woods house and got lovely results. Do any of you know if the fresh leaves can be dried for later use as a dye? I need to research that I am thinking. The other two plants for dye I just planted as seeds,  I can dry for later dyeing.

  I think my eyes are a bit better although still too blurry. I cut down on the number of drops the doctor said to do-as it was just too much for my eyes. With me and any medicines less is better.

 Lovely sunrises this week.

Below is a bit before dark-grabbed the camera while I was moving soil down the steps.

Happy Mid-week

Pretty Blooms from Amaryllis

  This morning all 4 blooms have opened up on the amaryllis-soooo pretty

    Adding photos to my blog is still "messed up" sadly  I brought this one over by copy and paste.

  We have bright sunshine today, strong winds so lots of waves on the lake.  I was looking out towards the lake this morning and there was a flock of seagulls fishing. Usually they are on the far side away from me, but this time just past our dock-so very fun to watch them flying and diving for fish.

  I got most of the wood wiped down yesterday in the main part of our living area. Just have the couch and dining table and benches to do yet, and a vintage trunk.  Next up will be my computer room-ranch oak desk and several vintage cabinets and my weaving loom and bench.  I think I will do the floors after that, and then tackle my kitchen-that's a big job but needs doing too.

  I saved out 9  water gallon bottles to make into growing seeds. Will plant the cotton seeds first and then see what is in my seed stash. Not doing lots like I did last year.  Next week the grass will need to be cut before it gets too tall.

  Larry did allot of walking with his walker yesterday, today he feels ill- will probably sleep most of the day today. Adding it up the home health team was out to our home for 5 months, so thinking Medicare cut them off even though he really needs another month to tackle the steps and hill. We are thankful for their care during that time.

  Happy weekend!

Spring Has Arrived & Catch Up

 Good Morning Friday,

  I believe Spring has arrived here in the Ozarks. In previous years we have gotten late cold even a light frost end of April or early May-but for now we have Spring.

  Almost 24 hours of rain yesterday-more to come- which has lots of greens popping all over the place-bushes, grass, perennials. 

  I did see Missouri is predicted to have a drought this summer, but that is ok with me-less grass cutting-smiles.

  I am sticking with my decision not to buy any plants this year. I love certain petunias to fill up large containers, but those never make it after July here. I have lots of annual flower seeds, so will plant them instead. After this rain stops and things start to dry out, I will be out there working on things-soooo much to do too. 

 Taking care of Larry since late October, I have not been up to cleaning house-like a really good dusting etc, or even my crafts-but This week I have dug out the wood preserver, cleaning rags and started with our main living area for a deep clean. Had allot of dust everywhere which has probably added to my allergies. Once one gets started-Wow looks so good now-smiles.  

  We have mostly vintage wood pieces-never was into modern furniture. I inherited my Mom's ranch oak couch we had when I was a child. It desperately needs new custom cushions made.  I had looked into that before we moved to the lake, and it was over $1000.00 back then.  I really don't like making cushion covers-was never that good at it and the good foam is quite expensive, so that is main cost. So still just making do with that for now

 Monday, I went to the new eye doctor, who is much closer than the one we were seeing since 2019- a surgeon for yearly checkups after our cataract surgeries. However, last year he informs me he no longer writes scripts for new glasses. -I really needed them last year too. When I found out my AT&T supplement insurance to Medicare was changing and would include dental and vision coverage, I decided to wait til this year.

  Good news after meeting with the new doctor is that I am still on a watch for glaucoma-nothing has changed, however my eyes are not focusing properly. After all the different tests, doctor says my eyes are very very dry so I am using drops several times a day for two weeks and then another checkup.  I started those on Monday but now my eyes feel a bit swollen and still not focusing on words etc very well. So will see what happens at my next visit.

  Larry had his last in-home therapy yesterday. I am surprised by this, as Larry is now walking better with the walker, but still tires very fast. He also has not had any help on tackling the steep steps and hill to get out of our home and into a car. I guess we will need to figure that out ourselves.  Our therapist did say if we wait a month, we can ask our primary doctor to contact them for more therapy. We have several must visits this month so will just take one day at a time. 

   Still having fun playing with buffalo fibers blended with Shetland wool and spinning. Can not seem to get into tying my large Yellowstone inspired quilt, so I am close to rolling that back up and putting away again til more inspired.

  This week I did make a big pot of chili made with ground bison along with cast iron pan of cornbread-yum perfect for a rainy day.

  This past week I also learned about an organization called Letters Against Isolation for those in nursing homes. Here is a link to their Instagram page    and to their home page here    I mailed out 7 letters to a nursing home in Montana this week-I think this will be rewarding for me and to the receivers. 

Happy weekend

    

   Bummer so difficult to add photos now sigh  

Buffalo Fiber Progress

   Good morning Sunday (or Monday for my European friends)  Today it's full sunshine and headed to the 80's F for a couple of days-then it will drop a bit for awhile but still spring temperatures.  Of course this up and down is wrecking havoc with my sinus's.

   Since Friday I have been playing with fibers. I started off with my blending board but did not like the results. This is a fun tool to layer fibers and them make into a long roving for spinning, but I forgot it doesn't really blend the fibers together. So I took apart what I had spun and redid it using my carders.

  The buffalo fibers being extremely short made a mess of my board too. This is what was left behind-so I cleaned this up with a flicker tool and put this away. 

This is a flicker and looks just like the one I have. 

So getting out my carders-first I put too much fiber on, so since I am not a super good spinner,couldn't get the fibers drawn out enough to make a yarn that was not super bulky. So took that apart and put much less fiber on.-the shetland wool fiber first and then the bufflalo fibers. You can see that the buffalo fiber is just a "mat" of very very short fibers. I can see why it will be good in the soil. 

  It took a few trys but by late yestereday this was going fairly well. Spun up, this is a coarser fiber which I am thinking I could use my mini loom to weave table mats or perhaps coasters.

 I am not happy that blogger has changed how to add photos to my blog. Instead of going to my photos like always-I now have to drag them to my blog-I am not good at doing that so what a process ugh The photos above went in but now they won't ugh. Will have to figure out how this works easier

  Ok I am back haha  Still not liking that google changed how to add photos. wonder why they did this? perhaps catering to cell phones? dont know as I don't have one of those.

Below fibers taken off the carders and then it is carefully rolled up,  and then carefully I pull the fibers out to spin which gives me a long piece to spin

My camera I am realizing takes blurry photos when I zoom in a bit. There is still bulky yarn on here, but the last of what I did is getting better.

  I am going to spin to fill this drop spindle up and then put it on my niddy noddy, get wet and then when dry see how the yarn is

 

  I made two loaves of gluten free pumpkin bread, for the sweetener the recipe uses maple syrup but the bread when baked has just a hint of sweetness.Of course I spread on some cream cheese to our slices-smiles.

    I am using the last quart jar of maple syrup that was gifted to us when we were still having deer camp at our woods home Our friend lives near Green Bay Wisconsin on his farm and he harvests his own maple syrup He had brought a large box of his maple syrup-such a generous gift-I gifted over half of it to friends at the time.

  Tomorrow I finally have my appointment to the eye doctor.My eyes have gotten so bad over the last year. Next week is dentist check up and then after that family doctor and blood draw that we do every 6 months-not sure if Larry will be able to manage the steps for that-we are just taking one day at a time.

  Have a good new week ahead everyone

Buffalo Fiber in the Mail & Daffodils

   After I purchased the big bag of buffalo fiber, I got to thinking-"what was I thinking??" Shhhh I didn't tell Larry about this one-kinda crazy I know haha.  Reminds me back when I was quilting more the girls would hide their fabric purchses from their husbands. I never hide stuff-but this purchase I did so far.

    I got the 5 pound bag because it was such a better price point-especially since they had a good mark down on it, and then another 15% off  on any order, plus free shipping. The free shipping was a big savings. I had been looking at this for a couple years now and the price was just too expensive before, and they have not offered free shipping before that I remember, so thinking they were spring cleaning their warehouse. .

  I also bought another pair of their "Boss" short socks made with buffalo yarn-I had bought a pair a year ago and I love them These socks will last the rest of my life time for sure.-perhaps even the fiber smiles.

  The first thing I did was to get this fiber out of the plastic bag, and then I grabbed old pillow cases from my craft room. Fibers need to breath-I never store any form of fibers or fabrics in plastic bags. 

   Well 5  pounds Is Allot of fiber-4 stuffed bags full haha.   The fiber is very very clean which I am very happy about, and allot of it was in wide rolls. This is supposed to be the waste fiber and more coarse. It is actually not extremely coarse.  The fibers are very very short which I had expected, but I almost think I will try carding it with another fiber to see if I can spin some of it.  I also thought it might just make a nice stuffing for little pillows too. I will also use some of this fiber in the soil too this spring as I work on the perennial areas.

  These photos came out a bit dark-sorry

  

    I got to thinking this week while waiting for this to get delivered that 5 pounds is allot of fiber-Yes it is-- fibers do make me happy though and I need happy right now.

   I have had in the back of my mine to create another framed fiber picture using wools and needle felting fibers-this will work for that project too, although that won't make much of a dent in this.

We got up into the 80's F temperature today but will crash to the low 20's tonight with wind rain t storms-typical for Missouri some years. 

   Late this afternoon I got outdoors for a bit. That sewer ditch project we had been working on before Larry's fall over the stone wall created allot of good soil. I spent hours seperating out the rocks from the soil-we needed the rocks to put on top of the sewer pipe.  This is a slow project for me fill a big bucket half full with this soil and carry it down the steps- I did a couple hours of that-but good thing I stopped at 2 hours.

  I did see a few daffodils beginning to bloom- that was a surprise  I was not able to work in these areas before winter last year after Larry's fall-so I have much to do to get these areas sorted before they grow too much I am hoping what I planted last year will return this spring

The storms have just begun while I type this--Have a good rest of your week

Spring Card Swap With Me?? Updated

     Morning, everyone, actually we are just past noon here where I live.

  I am finally feeling better and want to get back to my craft projects and writing. Just did not have the energy for any of that, but it is coming back to me Smiles.

     I am in the process of setting up papers to make a few spring cards for mailing off to friends.  If you would like to swap a Spring card with me, just send me a note from my contact link that is on my blog and include your address if I don't already have it. 

   Spring this year is March 19th   

  I forgot I lost all of my pretty spring flower photos when I got my new computer, so I found this one online.

 Good afternoon Saturday, I had fun making up my Spring cards over the last couple of days. Just finished them up. Made a little over a dozen all different this time.  Will stop by the post office next week to see how much postage I need. Made them bigger than I usually do.

Sunday: I will be mailing off the international cards on Monday, if anyone still interested I have a couple more cards left to mail out

Monday-Spring cards I had made are all ready to mail out soon-I look forward to sharing summer time cards

T Stands for This and That

Hello to the T Group with our hostess Bleubeard and Elizabeth,

     I thought I would pop in to visit at least once a month going forward. Larry is getting a bit better every week now. Looks like Medicare will probably only pay for in home physical therapy for three more weeks. Hoping they can extend that. One of the oversearer was out last week and said their goal is to get Larry walking up the steps at the end of three weeks. That would be awesome but I don't see that happening in that time frame at all. Larry tires out super fast now with his heart condtion so I really can't visualize that just yet-but will pray on it.

 

   We did get a blast of winter over this weekend, ice first and  then several inches of snow on top.(photos previous post)  We still have low temperatures but with full sun I am surprised how much has melted off over the weekend. Saturday most of the hill was melted off.

  For my drink share for T  I grabbed one of my Yellowstone water bottles-that I love-and filled with water to use in the house. Makes me happy-smiles. I also wanted to try out a decaf freeze dried coffee that I found on Amazon. If I make up a pot of coffee for me it lasts over a week sometimes-so if I just want one cup I thought this sounded perfect. This coffee has excellent deep flavor-I love it. Not at all like just a instant coffee. My coffee cup is handmade pottery.

After I drank most of my coffee and I had more light for a nicer photo-I also grabbed apples from the refrigerator to make up an apple crisp.I made that Sunday morning with fresh blueberries

 I wanted to share my vintage postcards, stickers amd ATC from Bleubeard and Elizabeth. The cards and stickers were so thoughtful and chosen just for me  thank you so much

  With the very cold weather starting on  Friday I decided perfect to wear my new slippers-cozy and warm

  Sunday morning-surprise! The new amarylis bulb I purchased around November had bloomed but had no leaves. This looked like a very young bulb. However, when I watered my older bulb and this one today, I discovered a leaf growing and also another flower stem-what a wonderful surprise! The flowers will be red and white.

      Sunday morning's sunrise was very very bright, so did not capture a good photo to share

  Not sure anyone reading this will be nterested but I wanted to share a family owned company I love. They send out very interesting newsletters too that I have always learned something new.

    The Buffalo Wool Company   They process buffalo fibers, I love their socks-sooo warm and comfy.I try to support USA home business's when possible. I have been eyeing their buffalo fibers for soil amendment. for awhile  now. It's rather expensive but their site has a big sale going along with free shipping when you spend a certain amount. Alot of items are sold out already. I bought another pair of their ankle size socks and  I decided to buy some of this fiber to see how coarse it is and if it could be spun or not along with using it for gardening.  When I searched online about adding fiber like this to soils everything was positive about it.   Have any of you tried a fiber in your gardens?

     I want to get the big plastic tubs we have that held food for ranchers that we still have at the woods home-up here to the lake.  These are very large and perfect for growing things in.  I have organic cotton seeds coming in the mail soon that I want to grow in these tubs along with flowers. Vegetables are difficult as the chipmunks and squirrels eat everything they find. It can get very hot here in this area of Missouri in the late summer months-so I think plants will do better in these tubs.

  As I am writing this  my apple-blueberry crisp just came out of the oven

I did make a couple batches of roll out sugar cookies wheat and gluten free-turned out really delicious-good thing a froze them in small bags haha

I shared photos on my Instagram page here

Happy T

Interesating -sooo Sharing

 I saw this on Facebook

Winter Arrived Today

     We have been enjoying spring weather here, but today winter decided to blow back in.

Started with rain that turned to ice and then several inches of snow and cold with lots of wind too brrrr. The house feels really cold today with all that wind and change of weather.

  I did not even tackle walking up steps and the hill to check my mailbox today. Don't need to risk another fall.  I was going to have a friend drive me over to pick up my car today but everything was ice this morning-so we do not need to get out on the roads.  I did enough of that in my younger years in northern Illinois driving to work in winter. 

  Surprising there was actually a few boats on the lake this morning too.

I have gotten a few very thoughtful and lovely Valentine's cards in the mail this week-thank you so much for thinking of me-I love surprises in my mailbox. I also got Bleubeard and Elizabeth's T anniversary atc that I love, with special postcards-I will share hers next week  Hugs to you all.

  I only have one KC Chiefs sweatshirt that I bought a few years ago, and it was a vintage one-bummer though I was cleaning and splattered bleech on the front-what was I thinking??. I am still soooo bumbed about  that. 

   I explored Etsy and found a shop here in Missouri that is screenprintig shirts-so I bought a sweatshirt that says back to back super bowls.  I also looked for a friendship bead bracelet on Etsy in Chiefs colors-those seem to be super popular now, influenced by Taylor Swift. I found another Missouri shop that was making them at a very afforable price. 

   I probably have at least a dozen Green Bay Packers sweatshirts-some of them are at least 30 years old now or older, so I wanted one more KC Chiefs sweatshirt.to wear. This year I also found a vintage large and comfy Notre Dame college (South Bend Indiana) sweatshirt that I enjoy wearing.

   Those of you that are seniors do you enjoy still wearing your teams colors?

I think tomorrow sounds like a perfect day to make an apple crisp in cast iron-have not made one in awhile. I even have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer too.

  Happy Friday and Weekend!