Looking Forward

We have a few more weeks before SPRING is officially here, but I am migrating toward pastel colors and bunnies.  We have a live bunny that stays in our backyard.  In this cold weather I feel somewhat sorry for it.  When we drive up to the carriage house, bunny hops away when the car headlights shine on the yard.

Hoping that Bunny stays alive through the WINTER and into the SPRING.

I drove by the KSU GARDENS the other day looking at their lawn filled with Irises.  When they bloom I look forward to walking the Gardens as I love Irises.  We hope to have some bloom on our property this SPRING.  Since they were  planted last July, they more than likely will not be overly  abundant.  It takes a year or so for them to get use to their new location.




Still, I adore them and am looking forward to seeing them usher in SPRING!
Praise God we have SPRING,
d

Eating An Orange

The past 14 days I've had a COLD.  Much better today.  Still clearing my throat.  If you can say one has a good cold then I'd be saying it.  This round of a cold hasn't been the worst one I've had, so I have to say if you rate a cold then mine is on the good side of things that didn't get me completely under the weather.

TODAY I WILL EAT A REAL ORANGE.   

Can't wait to taste a real orange. 

I've been taking Emergen-C powder that's added to a water beverage.  Sometimes it causes issues with my intestinal tract and I have to go easy taking it.  I know it has helped me fight colds in the past.

ORANGES put off such a nice fragrance.  

REFRESHING.  Smells clean.

The bag of oranges I bought was placed in a glass bowl.

FRUIT BOWL.

Today I learned what a 'silver sweetmeat basket' is.

Meat is english for food.

Such things as sweet nuts and sweet fruit are placed in

a special dish made out of silver with a handle.

Very Victorian.

 Sometimes I crave certain foods and I know this is a way of the body telling me it needs the nutrients. 

Have you had your C's today???

I finally did,

d

The Chronicles, Jesus paid it all HD

February Happiness

THE MONTH IS QUICKLY COMING TO AN END.  February is on the horizon.  Closer to SPRING!
  

Ready.

This month was busy with celebrating two Grandchildren's Birthdays, traveling to Oklahoma to celebrate Christmas with family twice, snowed in, CHRISTMAS clean up, going through piles of old magazines, shuffling furniture, trip to an old movie theatre, blood work, and the BALLET.  

The cold weather was a bit much as I bundled up to stay warm as the temps dipped.  Snowmen came out to play and I have visions of warmer days where the sky stays blue and the breeze comes in the window.  Need some quiet time to listen to the wind.

I will continue to downsize and get better organized during WINTER.  Lord willing.   Winter months are a great time to deep clean prepping for SPRING.  After I get further along with thinning through boxes, I will see about updating my wardrobe.  Might sew a bit.  That could be interesting.

Life is busy and I am, too.  Time for a breather called a nap.
God bless,
d   

On MY Toes

We went to the Ballet.  The Russian National Ballet Theatre presenting SWAN LAKE.  Looking forward to seeing the troop of 50 dancers.  Right here in Kansas.  On the Prairie.  In The Flint Hills.  

The last Ballet I attended was when I lived in HOUSTON seeing THE NUT CRACKER.  I was in my thirties.  I am now 62.  Been a while, but I still remember the vibrant colors when the Christmas Tree raised out of the floor.  Magical to see.

To save money, I pulled my basic black dress out to wear adding a fringy black shawl, some jewelry and black shoes.  Did my own hair pulled back into a bun covered with a black net hair ornament and make-up.  A nice evening.

Earlier I had asked a dance instructor in Manhattan if they ever offer Adult Ballet classes for older women.  Yes.  Well, I'm guessing I would have to be more aggressive to be a student.  For now I have to get this house in order.  Soon I will be walking on the tread mill again working at getting some time on my feet moving this old bod. 

Think I need to slather my tired feet with vaseline petroleum jelly then place some cotton socks on them over night.  This is suppose to soften the dried out skin.  Shall see if it works and will let you know.  Funny thing about getting older and having no thyroid.  My skin now has a mind of its own.  My toes have been drying out more around the nails as the tops of the feet have more crude that seems to migrate there in the middle of the night when no one is looking.  The heels are drying out.

Difficult to accept.  So out comes the old trick of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. 
On my toes,
d   

Russian National Ballet Theater performs Swan Lake

Going to see the BALLET!!!
d

Black Swan

She loves to dance.

Granny d Nanny

I'm Dizzy

Perhaps I'll sleep better tonight.  Up early this morning being it was 4:26 and when I tried to fall back asleep I wasn't able soooooo I stayed up going through my OLD magazines.  The piles are getting smaller as I stack the VICTORIA magazines in the cubby hole on the bottom of the book shelf.  Will be happy when it's a done deal. 

Ideas come to mind as I flip through the pages.  The thumbing part of my hand is tired.  It wants to go back to sleep, but my mind is wide awake.  I've been so good about leaving the television off as I thumb away.  No music either.  PURE concentration dealing with this task. 

Makes my head spin. 

It is a wonderful feeling of completion that I have literally gone through hundreds of magazines.  The pile of torn out pages is relatively small compared to all the magazines stacked.  I have been delivered from a habit that kept me in bondage.

I really did think that I would take time in the evenings after we were retired and revisit the magazines.  SOme where in this delusion I romanticized about this activity being more earth shattering than it is.  The time did arrived as I have hauled over twenty years worth of a variety of magazines around with me from different places we have lived.  My Husband can vouch for me on this one as it has been him as well that shuffled so many magazines.  Huff huff.

My Mom had told me, " The older you get the less you want all this stuff."  She knows what she is talking about.  AND AWAY WE GO. 

This week-end I hope we have all the CHRISTMAS tubs in the basement.  We're shuffling our plans as to when more things can be brought over to this location.  Slowing down the exodus.  Just too much to take on all at once in this WINTER.

WHEN THE WEATHER STARTS WARMING UP A TAD, I plan on going looking for a nice area rug for our living room.  I had a beauty of a rug that got smoked stained in the house fire.  It was a no-go to clean and so it went into a dumpster.  SLOWLY, and I do MEAN slowly we are piecing together our HOME.  A little here and a little there.

After the magazines are completely dealt with I will have to get back on the fire recovery paperwork.  I've had to take this really slow.  As much as I don't want to be EmOtIoNaL I still do.  Breathe deeply and sigh so as to not get dizzy.

I know it all takes time.  So time it is,

d  

Cold Feet

Yesterday, the weather was like a early SPRING day.  Coveting the Spring.  Though we are one day closer to Spring, it seems to be taking forever to get here.  I have to stay busy indoors to make the time go faster.  THOUGHTS of what will need done when SPRING arrives have come to mind.
  
Today, it snowed.  WIND came later in the day.  When I awoke, I looked out the bedroom window to see the snow on the ground.  Flakes were falling.  Like a child I squealed with excitement as if it were Christmas morning with presents under the tree.  FRESH SNOW covering the canvas of nature making everything appear so clean.

By the time I walked downstairs and took my morning meds, the snow had stopped.  Stopped.  I let out a small whimper.  Disappointed I would not get to watch the big flakes fall to the ground.  Pout.  I went about my chores as if I had no time to watch nature's flurry.  She simply stopped.

I continued glancing through Early American Life and LIVING magazines learning new techniques to bake and cook and clean.  Martha would be proud of me.

Learning how to preserve Holly at Christmas time by dipping the holly in clear furniture wax and placing the dripping sprigs on newspaper to dry.  Reading about different salads for meals.  Meat preparations.  A multitude of knowledge found in all these OLD magazines.      

In the middle of the afternoon the snow began to fall again.  Wind accompanied the white fluff.  Turning my head, I did watch the snow blow about.  Hours later the snow was still falling.  Temps were dropping and our SPRING DAY went by way too fast.  A taste of what is to come before the tornadoes cause havoc in Kansasland.  When it's WINTER, the threat of tornadoes is very slim.  

No lawn mowers going in the snow.  A constant buzz in the season of sunshine and SUMMER.  Even in late AUTUMN.  Today it was quiet without the busy-ness of others working to tend to their lawns.  Shoveling may come tomorrow.

This evening the christmas tree sparkles with twinkle lights.  Standing in the screened-in porch like a WINTER WONDERLAND fixture.  If I were to create a window display for a Department Store like I did 40 years ago, I'd have crystal, plastic or paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling dangling from ribbons.  What a sight that would be.

THINKING about current events.  Opinions I have as most every one else does.  It's alright to have opinions.  It's the American way.  On my BLOG I avoid posting personal opinions about political toxins...with facebook opinions seems to hit a raw nerve in many especially if you have a difference of opinion than theirs.  It gets heated rather quickly.

The snow would melt if spoken,
d  
        

Using The Gravel Drive

Hacking cough tonight.  Surprise...now you have it...now you don't.  Now you have it.  

I did so well until evening then it came back.  I'll take some NyQuil and sleep like a baby on clean sheets and bathed body slathered with fresh smelling body lotion.  I have been in slow-mo this past week desiring to be well again.

I am in hopes that this here cold will continue to disappear.  Poof.  Gone.  So-long.  I've had worst.  Am hopeful this one will be short lived.        

Day time hours have gone into thumbing through old magazines, sipping hot Pero and watching movies.  I envision being finished with the magazines soon and sewing a simple quilt.  The pictures of food makes me think of fixing this that and everything good.

The Office awaits me and I am waiting for the right timing to attack this space that needs attention.  At times I am over the top busy and can't seem to get into a maintenance mode about the housekeeping and cleaning.  Spot cleaning can only go so far.  Laundry is piling up again.  Shucks.  

Hubby has been shuffling boxes in the basement in which he came across one of our Nativity Scenes where the pieces have ornate fabric on the porcelain figurines.  I knew we had this elaborate set, but didn't know for sure where it was.  I just waited until it was rediscovered.  Relieved we still have this.  Has been years since we had it displayed and I cannot remember where we were living when we bought it umpteen years ago.  humm.  Let me think.  

Think we were living in OKLAHOMA, but that was 20 years ago.  I became a younger woman for an instant thinking backwards to when I was about the age of my daughter.in.law living in our jUNKy rental owned by a roofer.  That house no longer stands as the property was sold to and torn down by the JENKS SCHOOL DISTRICT to make room for more buildings.

When I do drive by the location, a huge building rest on the spot where the front door was.  In my mind's eye I can see every detail of that house in my head.  The colors, the smells, the desire to move away from this run down rental.  Our Landlord was something else and the less I had to deal with him the better.

The worst thing he could say about us living in his rental was that we wore the gravel down in the driveway.  Can you believe it, gravel?  Isn't that what gravel is for when used in a driveway?  My goodness.  He was special.  Very special.  

I have fond memories of that rental, and the time we lived in Jenks, Oklahoma, but I am forever thankful we are not still there.  THANKFUL.  I can still hear the large tree branch crack under the weight of a foot of snow causing it to fall to the ground hitting hard beside the gravel layered driveway.  The thump was loud and could be heard inside the house.  A beautiful snow covered yard was fluffy with whiteness.  

I could hear my feet crunch in the snow as the air was serenely still to where I could hear a pin drop.  One of those moments embedded into my memory bank that I can withdraw just about anytime.   

I have often wondered if we would be blamed for the tree branch breaking from an act of nature as it was an unusual occurrence for this much snow to fall in Jenks.  Surely the Landlord could blame us for enjoying the tree during a Winter wonderland.

Years have passed and this is a memory that still makes me smile that the snow was so deep it blanketed the ugly gravel driveway.  Perhaps it was the snow that wore down his gravel.  Perhaps.

Sweet thoughts,
d  

Down Memory Lane With Country Living

~Down Memory Lane~

Giving OLD magazines a once over then pitching them. 

Tearing out a few pages to save.  The rest goes to the trash pile. 

Piles of OLD magazines have been waiting for me to take a peek at them one more time before giving them the 'ole heave ho.

LOTS of turning pages and reading blurbs of info.

FLIPPING page after page glancing at all the pictures.

Getting my home interior decorating FIX.

Soon my stash of magazines will be much smaller.

I had saved years of Victoria, Martha Stewart LIVING magazines, 
Traditional Home, Victorian Homes, Country Living.

Hundreds of old magazines I've gone through.
Not bragging.  Just a fact.  

My goodness.

For now I'm saving Victoria.  

The rest...well, they are goners.  

No longer sacred material to me.

They should never have been treated as such.

All for the best,

d

I'm Nuts For You

THINK the nuts are calling my name.  I made a batch of Fool Proof Fudge with more nuts than the recipe called for.  I enjoy the walnuts in this fudge so much that the fudge started calling my name late at night as I am the only one up while the musical clock plays tunes on the hour every hour.

Walnuts add something just right with this Fudge recipe.  So good.  Good for you.  

Nuts contain good stuff.  

Nutritional Profile. Walnuts are an excellent source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 essential fatty acids, in the form of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). 

Walnuts are also rich in antioxidants, including being a very good source of manganese and copper. They are also a good source of molybdenum and the B vitamin biotin.

Not sure what molybdenum is.  Will have to look that one up.  
Molybdenum:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdenum

https://www.fatsecret.com/calories-nutrition/generic/walnuts?portionid=11064&portionamount=4.000

I'm nuts for you.
Wished I had ate more nuts before now 
as I have caught a cold.
Achoo,

d

Rearranging

VICTORY.  We had a pleasant week-end honoring our DATE NITE to see a movie, taking down the Christmas tree, and shuffling the Living room furniture.  Pot Roast made which turned out extremely tender.  A few more fire recovery boxes gone through.  Time to take note what needs to be done next.  A nap.   

I like the new Living room arrangement.  It opens the room up making it appear more spacious.  Easier to get around.  Put sliders under the legs and feet making the sliding a breeze.  The two matching sofas are in a L-shaped arrangement with the two wing chairs placed on the other end of the room in front of the window.  There's a Dumb Waiter table centered between the chairs where the Christmas tree stood.  

I've waited 7 and a half months for this switch.  Is it TRUE that GOOD things come to those who wait?  Draperies will come later. 

Originally I wanted the two sofas to face each other by the fireplace, but they are large and in the arrangement would not allow enough space between the fronts of the chairs and the back of one of the sofas.  SO went to plan B.  Chairs in front of window and sofas in a L-shaped arrangement at the other end of the room.  The Morris chairs stay put for watching the tele. 

Christmas tree is down.  Singing the praises of my Husband who muscled this event.  Ornaments and lights packed and taken away.  Snowmen in place.  We had a nice week-end and just so happened to pick up a few Nutcrackers for 70% off while on our Saturday Date.  I couldn't help myself.  They caught my eye and know that I cannot hardly beat 70% off making the tall cracker only a couple of dollars.  Sparkling. 

The flocked tree from upstairs will be put in the screened in porch this week.  Too much to do this week-end to get to this.  Bitter cold on the porch.  Winter WONDERLAND for sure.  Bitter cold. 

WITH THIS COLD WEATHER, television movies are more enticing to me.  Stay warm.  The PRAIRIE POT ROAST turned out very tender.  I'll be fixing another roast today as the two roast in the package was too good of a deal to not purchase.

This other roast will be prepared for a big pot of HOT WINTER STEW.  I'll add stewed tomatoes, tomato soup, corn, green beans, new potatoes, carrots, and onion.

~MASTERPIECE~ 

We watched the PBS MASTERPIECE THEATER.  Victoria.  The costuming is so beautiful as is the interior decorating.  If I ever get to where I could sew some period clothing, I would feel a great sense of satisfaction and completion.  

FIRST I have to continue organizing and downsizing.  This is my HOBBY for now.  Much needed to be done.  The Living room is rearranged...now the fire recovery boxes need emptied and the Office arranged.  Tadaaaaaa.  I still sound like a broken record.   

We watched HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, THE POLKA KING, MAD MONEY and VICTORIA over the HOLIDAY not to mention JUMANJI at the Theatre.  Needed the down time. 

My week should be busy.  I'll be working on bills, make a trip to the grocery store, preparing stew, tidying up some.  Hair appointment.  Laundry.  Toilets will need sanitized meaning the bathrooms are on the calendar to clean.   I'd like to have a facial in here some where and go ahhhhhh.  Will listen to some music and read.  Eat more salads and drink water to hydrate.   SOAK my feet and shave my legs.  SPA TIME.

BUT today didn't go as planned and it's just as well.  When I rolled my car window down to drop off a letter to be mailed, my car window didn't want to roll back up.  Oops.  It was so cold the window protested.  I talked nice to it and it went up very slowly.  I drove over to the City Building to drop off this month's utility payment.  Locked the car door and quickly walked inside to pay the bill.  When I went to click the lock open, it didn't work.  I tried my key in the car door and it didn't work.  Good thing I was only two blocks away from HOME, but thought I would stop by the Library to warm up.

Sign on the door.  Library closed due to the weather being so cold.  Went ahead and walked HOME.  7 degrees.  Glad I had gloves on.  Hubby was my hero again.  We took his car over to see if he could get the car door open.  He did and he drove the car HOME.  When we walked into the house, it smelled like STEW.

STEW for supper and warmed up.  Praise the LORD for heaters and HOMES.  Not to mention STEW and Husbands.  

BLESSINGS,
d

'Life Just Got A Little Easier' Prairie Pot Roast

ROAST will be marinaded over night 

in vinegar.  Discard vinegar then pour two cups of STRONG COFFEE and water over it to add FLAVOR.

THE VINEGAR TENDERIZES THE MEAT.

COFFEE ADDS FLAVOR.

CAN USE CHEAPER CUT OF MEAT.

~COFFEE POT ROAST~

Starting with a 3 to 5 pound roast, use a large knife to cut slits completely through the meat so they look like little tunnels.  Insert slivers of garlic and onion into the slits.  Can do without garlic and onion.   

Put the beef in a bowl and pour one cup of vinegar over it making sure that the vinegar runs down into the slits.  Place this in your refrigerator for twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

When ready to cook the roast, discard the vinegar solution and place meat in a heavy pot (iron if possible) and brown in oil until nearly burned on both sides.  Then pour two cups of strong black coffee over the roast.  Add two cups of water and cover.  

If liquid boils down NEVER add more than one cup of additional water at a time.  Make sure the lid is on tight.

Cook this slowly at a simmer for six hours on top of stove.

Do NOT season with anything else until twenty minutes before serving and then add salt and pepper.

  

~Tweaking This A Tad~

Cup of white vinegar poured over Roast 

in bowl with lid.

Rest in fridge for 24 hours.

Discard vinegar solution 

and place roast in crock pot.

Brown sides of roast in olive oil and sliced onion for hour on high.

Add baby carrots and new potatoes.

Add two cups of STRONG COFFEE 

and two cups of water.

Lower temp to simmer.

SLOW COOK all day.

Ready for Supper.

Life just got a little easier 

while dining on the Prairie,

d