'LIFE JUST GOT A LITTLE EASIER' WEIGHT LOSS MEAL FOR ONE

'Life Just Got A Little Easier' 

WEIGHT LOSS Meal for One.

Who doesn't need a EASY meal prep for one when it comes to WEIGHT LOSS?
There seems to always be challenges with this aging THANG and recovering from major surgery. NOW, WEIGHT LOSS is needed.

Three ingredients besides seasonings.

Tuna

Avocado

Cucumber

Dump a small can or package of drained tuna into bowl.  

Season with salt and pepper.

Use fork to flake.  

Mix half an avocado into tuna.

Blend.

Add half of a thinly sliced cucumber.

Mix well.

Serve on a plate or in a bowl just like it is or maybe on a bed of lettuce.

A nutritious meal for one.
Quick AND EASY with hardly any clean-up.

Now you're talking,
~d

SUNDAY IT IS

MY FIRST WEEK OF RECOVERY HAS APPROACHED AS I AM RESTING IN MY NEW ELECTRIC RECLINER THAT'S BROWN SUEDE.  I've gotten the hang of it and think it will be difficult to not have recliners in the COTTAGE when the time comes.  The blue wing chairs are at the COTTAGE in the small living room along with a loveseat.  We'll be morphing along as we go.  

This recovering time is slowing us down on getting into the COTTAGE.  I have to practice patience as I heal.  I know I need to be a good patient.  

My dear Husband has been taking very good care of me this week.  He is an awesome cook these days.  We visit about what we will be eating for the day.  He went to the grocery store yesterday to purchase our food.  Lots of veggies it is.  

Usually on our dinner plates hold three types of food combining protein with vegetables.  A meat and two types of veggies.  Small amounts of fruit start the mornings out with steering away from grains throughout the day.  Popcorn happens many a evening.  Ice-Cream has become an evening treat, but think we had better watch this one as it is dairy with sugar.  

I walked quite a bit on Friday and think it caught up with me yesterday as I was weary and too tired to walk on Saturday so I hope to walk some today early on.  My shower last night felt wonderful.  It was refreshing to say the least.  I remain in my housecoat instead of getting dressed each day.  I figure it is better for the 5 incisions on my upper stomach and lower abdomen where a large incision is.  All incisions look like they are healing well.  The soreness in my gut is still there, but getting less tender.

I cut back on the pain pills.  I'd prefer to not get hooked on this stuff.

What is going on in the world as I recover?  It's a hectic place out there for sure.  It's a chaotic world that can take dominion over the peaceful ways that we should be living in our lives. Keeping the peace takes work.  Shutting the world out is a must.  I cannot continually be fed what the media says is truth when it is altered with controlled conflict.  While on the computer, it is easy to get bombarded with news blurbs that sway the truth.  I am so tired of seeing so much skin being exposed by the same women that must be Hollywood puppets making their millions. Round balls for breasts, pump up lips about to explode and tight facial skin where the natural lines of time have disappeared.  Eye lashes like paint brushes.  Excuse me.

Guarding my heart is necessary.  

The media has not tired of sending the same messages to the world that women are not encouraged to be homebodies happily married with children to bless them.  Instead, some other kind of ungodly thing is what we are to aim for.  Tuning out fast talking individuals that are so gruff and on the verge of being militant with insults.  I cannot bare it anymore.    

Today, I will rest, go through paperwork, tape up moving boxes, tidy the area beside my chair that holds supplies, do some dishes, and walk between the porch and the carriage house before the summer heat gets too bad.  

The beautiful things of nature is on my mind.  We missed the yearly Iris Sale in Manhattan which we usually attend each July.  I figure we will live.  Next year perhaps we will be able to attend.  I had hopes of relocating some Irises at the COTTAGE in July, but that was before I knew I'd be having a hysterectomy and not able to garden.  Perhaps, in a month I will be able to get around to this.  For now, I can think about it and sketch designs.

I have not been reading as much as I thought I would be able to during this time as the fatigue comes over me like a wave.  

We're off to a new week.  I'll have a telephone medical appointment with my regular doctor on Tuesday where I will remain HOME.  I'm truly not wanting to travel in a car yet not even for a pleasure ride.  I have never had a tele appointment before.  Hope I can figure out the way this works.

Perhaps as I sit, I'll hear the Church Bells ring this morning calling the people to worship.  They do not ring the bells long enough.  It's disappointing to me.  When we return to small town America across the river to live in the COTTAGE, I will be able to tune in to their church bells they ring every Sunday, plus hear hymns during the day.  What a neat feature to hear.  I'm looking forward to hearing the bells again.  When I was baby sitting one of my Grandchildren, I had to slow down my pace of life.  I didn't know that God was grooming me to take note of other things in life that were better for me than being on the go at a fast pace.  Here I am desiring to slow down to hear the church bells chiming Christian tunes in the airwaves.  What a beautiful thing to experience in this hectic world of ours. 

HE makes me to lie down in green pastures.

~d 

BONNIE AND CLYDE

WENT TO BED LATE AFTER WATCHING A 2019 MOVIE ABOUT BONNIE AND CLYDE.  The Highwaymen.

I'd watch it again.  This time era of 1934 with the clothing styles, hairdos, cars, furniture, etc. and the story line were captured well.  Not glorifying the criminals as I think they were hardened, cold-blooded killers that needed stopped, came to an end in 1934.

Several movies and documentaries have been made about this couple that were dangerous and on the move.  I think I've seen them all including The Highwaymen. 

I remember my dad talking about them as he was about 7 years old during this drama.  I can only imagine what his very poor family that struggled to make ends meet thought of Bonnie and Clyde's ways.  The fine clothing and beautiful cars that were not within their own reach, but these criminals stole cash and cars while murdering others.  Many thought they were like Robin Hood taking from the rich banks that were taking from the poor farmers, but they also robbed small time Mom and Pop grocery stores and gas stations.

Bonnie had followers that placed her status to that of a movie star.  Petite and pretty, well dressed and admired.  She stood all of about 4' 11" weighing less than a hundred pounds.  She married early at 15 to her High School Sweetheart, Roy Thornton who went to prison so living with someone other than her husband during this wild time of crime sprees had to have been a scandal to God fearing people across the country not to mention the robberies while toting guns. Bonnie smoked cigarettes and possibly cigars, slung a machine gun about or at least in the photographs and ran from the law.  She wore her wedding band until her death. Tatooed on her right thigh were the names Bonnie and Roy.

No self respected woman would have had a tattoo on her inner thigh in those days. She'd take up with Clyde Barrow later while her husband was in prison.  Bonnie and Clyde made a name for themselves in a dishonest way until their deaths.   

Bonnie and Clyde frequently prowled Kansas, which according to former gang member Ralph Fults, was the best bank-robbing state in the Union because of its numerous straight roads, each intersecting every mile or so with another road, creating a network of escape routes virtually impossible to seal off. 

 

After evading the cops countless times, their luck ran out May 23, 1934 when on Highway 54 in Louisiana, they were ambushed by officers who fired 107 rounds of bullets in less than two minutes.

The automobile that they were killed in was stolen a head of time from Ruth Warren's residence in Topeka, Kansas.  2107 Gabler, Topeka, Kansas.

Can you imagine having bought a new automobile leaving it sitting in the drive to just have it stolen by Bonnie and Clyde?

Ruth's car was eventually returned to her in which she would sell for show.  This was a modest neighborhood that Clyde and Bonnie were driving around when they spied Ruth's new car in the driveway.  She only owned the Ford V-8 for a few months before it was stolen. 

At one point in time, Bonnie was going by the name Jewell who ran a cafe in Hugoton, Kansas called Jewell's Cafe and Clyde went by the name Blackie who was a farm laborer.  They were known to be bootleggers going by the last name of Underwood.  Blackie reportedly worked on a farm while Jewell ran the cafe in town.  When I lived in Hugoton, I didn't know about this colorful past until years later.  

Hugoton was known for the natural gas deposit found southwest of town in 1927.  This became the Hugoton Natural Gas Field, which would become one of the top five sources of natural gas in the United States. Lots of workers came to Hugoton to work in the gas field.  HUGOTON NATURAL GAS FIELD brought many in for work including bootleggers.

I've walked past the place where JEWELL'S CAFE would have been not knowing her history.  Hubby had worked in the Oil and Gas Field in days gone by while I was a young HOMEMAKER, wife and momma living in Hugoton in our first mortgaged house that was a bungalow that I have dreamt about many times.  

Bonnie and Clyde are no more, but the stories still float about,
~d

ALL THREE PLAYED SOCCER

 

WHAT A BUSY YEAR THEY HAVE HAD.  The kids grow so fast and time passes quickly.  PAUSE and it's gone.  Enjoy the time you have with them.

Grandchildren are such a blessing.  Because of the distance we live apart, I seldom get to see them.  SO I have to enjoy the time I have with them also.  HUGS.  

~d

JULY COMES TO AN END

CHRISTMAS IN JULY DIDN'T HAPPEN THIS YEAR AS I HAVE MY HANDS FULL WITH RECOVERING FROM THIS HYSTERECTOMY.  I don't have the strength to write out my Christmas cards like I thought I would do earlier in the year to get a head start on this 2023 Christmas.  AND THAT's ALRIGHT.  Think I will only mail a few cards out in December anyways.    

All is well.  I really am alright with not getting this ambitious task accomplished.  The last couple of years, I had thought it would be helpful to have the cards addressed and to do this in the Summer time.  Oh well and I'm fine not getting it done.  My energy is being used getting the rest I need.  Writing out the bills this week and walking is about all I will get done.  Naps are taking a priority.

Resting well during this time.  Pain level is down.  Praise God for pain pills.

I went for a short walk this morning and will take another one in the late afternoon.  I have to rest and that's that.  I worked on writing out correspondences and bills this morning.  Hubby was so kind to drop these off at the post office so they'd go out today.

Taping up some moving boxes this evening.  Resting this afternoon.  What can a person do when they can't do very much physically?  Being overly active mentally has it's limits.  Need to sleep again.

Will watch old videos about how to do things the way they were done in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.  

That'll be entertaining for someone like me that's down for the count.

~d  

HEALING TAKES TIME AND I'M WILLING TO GIVE IT TIME

DAY THREE AFTER HYSTERECTOMY and I am feeling better with less pain when sitting down and getting up.  Doing fine when simply sitting in my recliner with my feet raised up and knees bent.  Just like old times.  PRAISE THE LORD.  I have slept quite a bit and I am willing to nap when needed.

The house is quiet and I need it to be.  Hubby is fixing my meals, doing dishes and getting what I need like lemon water to sip.  I'm tireder than when I had c o v I d last July 2022.  My birthday month has been an eye opener the last three years.  Favorite cousin passed away from horrific car accident in 2021.  In 2022, c o v I d.  Now in 2023, uterine cancer and hysterectomy.

I just got finished with taking a short walk from the back porch to the Carriage house four times.  Figured I walked a little over 240 steps tonight.  I walked 180 earlier in the day.  Tomorrow I will walk three times during the day.  Hopefully.  

No difficulties using the toilet and my bowels moved.  That was what I was wanting.  Now, to keep up the good work.  

I read over the surgical notes today.  This was considered a difficult surgery because of the extra large uterus with a multitude of fibroids.  20 cm uterus.  I can already tell that I am not coughing as much in the mornings upon waking up like I was before surgery.  Emptying my bladder is easier and the back pain is less.  hum.  

In a few days, I should know if the cancer had spread or was contained.  According to the notes, the ovaries and Fallopian tubes looked good.  Usually this type of cancer spreads to the Fallopian tubes and ovaries first.  Doing my best to wait this one out.  Waiting is difficult.

If the cancer did spread, I will do chemo and radiation.  Hoping it was contained.  One of the fibroids I had was rare and only less than 1% gets this type.  hum. 

I slept so much of the day and needed to.  

Last night I watched the 2023 movie, PAINT.  Wouldn't suggest watching it to anyone.  Supposedly a comedy.  A waste.

Can't seem to get into the movies.  Think this Friday, I will take it easy and soak in the quiet. 

Recovering on the prairie,

~d 

DO WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING SOUND LIKE FREEDOM TO YOU?

DAY TWO AFTER HYSTERECTOMY presents herself on this middle of the week, Wednesday.  I am HOME sitting upright in my recliner.  I slept well in my recliner until 9:42 this morning meaning I had no pain meds for almost 14 hours.  I walked to the bathroom, to the kitchen and about the living room.  Made rounds.  Sat upright and reached for the sky with my arms and wiggled my fingers and toes.

Had a pleasant breakfast of two poached soy-free eggs seasoned with salt and pepper with half a banana and now I'm sipping on lemon water from a bottle.  My dearest Husband has been helping me and I so need his help.  The soreness is real.  Lunch was grass-fed hamburger patty with diced potatoes and organic green beans with almonds.  Organic BBQ sauce to temp the taste buds.  More lemon water to sip on.      

Yesterday, was a tough day as the pain was terrific even with taking pain meds.  When coughing, it was horrifically painful.  I'd gently push in my abdomen with my hands to help support my gut as I coughed.  Awful.  I've been better today.  It's just about time to take a stroll to the bathroom and then walk about my living room for five minutes or more.   

Reading about my procedure in my health portal has been interesting as it said I tolerated the procedure well.  Now to wait for the path report to see if the cancer had spread.  

I am willing to relax into the chair and close my eyes drifting off to sleep in my peaceful place of HOME.  Not today, but tomorrow I will walk outside a short distance to the Carriage house to get some fresh air and to exercise while healing.  Climbing stairs later in the day.  No rush.  Believe you me, I'm not rushing.  

Watching a few videos about LIFE ISSUES like FOOD.  grins.  Decorating.  Social issues.  etc. Too tired right now to do word books or write a book.

Let's talk about subliminal messages that are made through the media.  Every time a sex scene is played in a movie or in a television program, we are sent a message.  We're exposed to sexual activity that's not secretive, but in plain sight.  Sexual activity outside the marriage covenant. What does this encourage the ones that see this?  It's a untruthful presentation of what sexual intimacy is suppose to be about.

I hadn't seen the Lady Gaga 2018 remake movie of A STAR IS BORN before and decided to watch this modern version.  hum.  It was a good excuse for Lady Gaga to do porn.  A far cry from the 1937 film.  The film was too long and sketchy in a lot of the scenes.  

We started to watch several other movies in which we ended up turning off.  The filth being passed off as entertainment is mind boggling.  

There are some good movies still being made, but now I question who's financing the movies being made?  People are emotional beings and if a movie pulls at one's heart strings then we're more apt to like the show that's against sex trafficking even if the ones that funded the movie are into the child sex trafficking business themselves.  What?  

When the financing fell through on a film and the main actor says it's a sign of resistance... don't give up!  We were to believe in interviews that the actor was sincere, but when a billionaire businessman with connections to pedophile rings that made a fortune with blood money offered to support the film, they went with it to get the movie made.  It's gonna be a great blessing, they say, with a good ending to the movie, they say and it doesn't matter where the money came from?  No crime in that is there?  Think again.  

Were you encouraged to pay it forward for someone who couldn't afford tickets?  Was this another great technique to get more money out of you?  Did it work?  Did it sound like freedom to you?    

You may not check out the ones financing the movie beforehand, but want to help the organization that is portrayed in the movie that didn't name names of the ones doing the sex trafficking, but the movie encouraged you to want to give financial support to them anyhow, what then?  What is the organization actually doing with the money that is now rolling in for their organization?  Is most of it being used for the administrators of the organization or in helping do away with sex trafficking?  When push comes to shove and the ones behind the scenes are criminals involved in the very thing they are promoting against in the film, which WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING are they?

When the word is out that this specific film is breaking box office records then it must be a great movie, right?  We're showing the wicked ones in HOLLYWOOD that this type of movie wins over them?  Right?  No.  We're not.  We are easily led astray.   We are truly messed up.  We live in a wicked and corrupt world where the truth is not being portrayed in movies nor the ones financing the movies don't come from a wholesome character.  Some people know how to make millions of dollars by fooling those who think they're doing what is right.  The viewer really wants to help out by giving money supposedly that will be used to do good, but movies aren't real life.

When the actual person that's being portrayed in the movie is wanting in real life to BUILD THE WALL saying it would have prevented one child from being abducted, then what does that say about the ones on American soil that are being abducted in the first place within the communities of our neighborhoods or tricked by computer scams?  Are they the forgotten ones that have nothing to do with the theme of a movie but are still abducted?  What does that say about the little children playing in their front yards abducted by a driver going by that was on the hunt of kidnapping someone already? What does that say about evil individuals roaming our country? What does it say about religious organizations that relocate sexual deviates that wear certain collars that molest and rape innocent children without addressing the crime before relocating them to another place because the perpetrator was thought to be sanctified by their church which believes their religious clergy has done no wrong?  What does it say about those who teach in the public school system that all behaviors are acceptable?  What does it say about the so-called music that has vulgar lyrics being driven deep into the brain with a pounding beat? What does it say about young children being molested by a family member or a baby sitter? What does it say about the corruption of our world not being addressed?  What does it say about ungodly people wanting to live the way of the corrupt and immoral world?  We are truly messed up. 

After the BATHROOM mishap a few years ago where men can identify with being a woman to use specified toilet stalls without being questioned about their gender identity, CHICK-FILL-A Restaurants went like gang busters because they opposed Target's stanch on transgender bathroom users.  Something changed in 2023 with CHICK-FILL-A now being a WOKE restaurant.  Think what you want, it's as corrupt as any.

Target was put down again about the horrific merchandise they were selling in their stores and yet Walmart and Kohls were doing the same thing ON-LINE.  Sells didn't drop.  Nothing was said.      

REMEMBER the young Tennessee pastor who ranted about the Target bathroom scenario and how the violent take it by force?  He's now making a show of it bragging about his ministry casting out demons in special group sessions in his tent.  His lovely wife has helped lead him off into the weeds.   

We sometimes get led astray with religious teachers who have a good message, but it isn't the good news of the gospel.  

Where to begin?

Each HOME is a universe of it's own.  

Start in the HOME?  

Sounds like a good plan.

~d

             

THE IMPORTANCE OF HOME

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.  No place!  Home is where you hang your hat or where your living presence is made known.  A sweet place to relax and recover from the outside world.  You can have very little material possessions where the warmth of a person makes all the difference.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  I behold HOME and it is Beautiful.

A roof over my head and a recliner to sit in.  I am living in a decent structure with interior running water and air conditioning in the heat of the summer.  Heat in the winter.  Nice appliances to enhance this place.  I am grateful to have a place to call HOME.  The older I get, the more grateful I become.  As we morph into the small COTTAGE, there is a peace that envelopes me.  I wish we were already there, but first I have to recover from having a hysterectomy that was performed the old fashioned way due to a oversized uterus.

Though our present HOME is a mess with little left in it because we are working at relocating to our tiny COTTAGE that will become our HOME later in the year, this main house is what I call HOME for the time being.  We are slowly progressing to getting everything out of here.  We are on pause for the time being as I heal.  This main house is where I am recovering from major surgery I had on Monday in Kansas City.

Surgery went exceptionally well as the doctor removed my uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries and cervix.  I was diagnosed with uterine cancer earlier this Summer.  Because the uterus was so large, the test that they usually do with light to see if the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, could not be done.  I'll have to wait until the pathology returns in about a week.  

A distorted uterus full of large fibroids.  The uterus was approximately 20 centimeters in length. The average dimensions of the uterus in an adult female are 8 cm long, 5 cm across, and 4 cm thick.  I don't know what all the dimensions of my uterus were other than the length of mine was 20 cm.  That's huge.  Over twice the length it should have been.  With the incision I have, I almost think this is how it feels to have a cesarean. 

I asked the doctor if he would take a picture of the uterus so I could see what it looked like.  He did.  It was interesting to see and yet I can not explain in words how weird it was and grossly distorted.  I pray the cancer was all contained.  

Why I had such large fibroids, I don't know.  I can only guess.    

I am incredibly sore.  Pain meds are being taken.  I'm walking and standing about every two hours.  Going to the toilet is challenging.  Successfully, I am mastering the technique.  I have hopes of recovering and moving toward a healthier LIFESTYLE.  Falling asleep throughout the day taking naps to regain my strength.   

I have a grown appreciation for the Hospital Staff.  All were so kind to me.  

Making the COTTAGE our HOME will come after I recover and can return to lifting things heavier than 10 pounds.  That will be in 8 weeks or so and I will do what I can between now and then.  No lifting or rigorous activity.  

I am a HOMEBODY so as I recover I will be enjoying the presence of this place.  Having a place to call HOME means so much to me.  I gave death much thought before the surgery. Made some preparations in case I passed.  How do I want to live?  What changes will I make?  

Having a heavenly HOME will be my destiny one day.  I still may have a cancer battle in the near future if the results are bad.  I will have to focus my thoughts are other things as I wait to hear.  I have been thinking a great deal about the exercise I will do after I heal up.  The food I will be eating is very important as I gear toward what is called clean eating and giving GOD thanks for the beautiful foods He has made for us as we live on planet earth.

The importance of HOME matters.  HOME is what we make it.  I truly am contented to be HOME.
~d     

How to Reverse High Cholesterol

QUESTION?

 JUST HOW MANY KITCHEN APPLIANCES 

DO YOU REALLY NEED?

Kitchens are necessary for making a HOME a HOME.  

Seriously,  how many appliances do you need
to create a established KITCHEN?

natural gas, electric or propane stove/oven
air fryer
electric skillet (can use frying pan on electric stove or over open flame on stove)
electric toaster (can use the oven instead of a toaster if needed)
refrigerator
electric coffee pot (can use stove top burner instead of coffee pot, coffee maker or French Press if needed)
electric can opener (can use manual)
electric dish washer (can do dishes by hand with running water at sink)
microwave (life without a microwave is doable)
electric mixer
electric blender
electric food processor
MY FAVORITE: electric crockpot

Did I miss any?

It seems I'm partial to electric appliances.  
Would I manage without electricity?
It would require a HUGE adjustment,
but I would have to adjust.

I'm very thankful to have an actual KITCHEN in my HOME.

~d

SALAD IT IS! Living differently for HIM.

MOST OF THE TIME MY LUNCHES WILL BE SALADS.  Salads.  I can't hardly believe that I am eating rabbit food and loving it.  I MUST BE OLD for sure.

It is funny how I have shifted gears as an older woman and am eating vegetables and fruit as the main ingredients in a meal.  I am actually enjoying eating rabbit food.    

OH, IF WISHES WERE FISHES IN THE SEA, I'd be living at a beach on a ocean front.  I wish I had ate more organic everything through the years and paid attention to the soil that the organic items were grown in.  Mustn't forget about the soil quality.  This is so very important.

I might get puffed up bragging that I eat more organic foods now a days, but paid NO attention to the soil the food was grown in and came from.  Another OOPS MOMENT.

Gosh, maybe I'll get this thing figured out before I go HOME to glory.  Maybe, Lord willing.

Having a small vegetable garden can become a reality after we get settled into the COTTAGE.  There's a patch of ground beside the COTTAGE that is a flowerbed for our white Irises.  If I relocate the irises to the base around the front yard trees, the flowerbed could easily be turned into a small vegetable garden.  This could become a nice place to plant rhubarb, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, lettuces, maybe some peppers and onions.  Hum.  I will become a JUNIOR FARMER that wears a straw hat and overalls with a small veggie garden to tend to.  It's been years since I had a garden of my own.  Years. 

 

  

About 5 years ago, my Husband and I did DNA testing at HOME.  I always thought I was mostly German because my Dad was full blooded German.  Mom was mostly Scottish.  My DNA results came back saying I am mostly from the UK.  British.  A small percentage Norwegian, German and a small percentage Ashkenazi Jew.  

When I read the Ashkenazi Jew part, I wondered how in the heck did that happen?  Out of the blue, I'm part Jewish?  I have Jewish heritage in my DNA.  Should I be eating Kosher to help stay healthy?  I wondered.  

When researching, I then read that Jewish people are not suppose to eat the backside of cows as this is the most fatty part of the cow.  We have been working at eating grass-fed cows, but not paying attention to which part of the cow we are eating.  I have prided myself in eating grass-fed beef.  

You know the main stream docs and diet gurus tell you to eat lean cuts of beef.  Health nuts will tell you to eat grass-fed cattle.  Stay away from grain-fed.  

According to the Old Testament Bible, Israelis were instructed to eat meat when the creature is cloven footed and chews it's cud.  Cows are and do.  When a cow eats grass, the grass goes to one of its stomachs which causes the grass to become saturated with fat.  This shows up on the backside of the cow which is the fattiest part of the cow.  You can eat grass-fed beef, but if that part of the cow you are eating has come from the backside of the cow, it will be extra fatty.  When we consume the beef from this part even if the cow is grass-fed, we're eating too much FAT which would contribute to raising our cholesterol.  OOPS.  Do you suppose a gentile eating excessively fatty beef could possibly have too high of cholesterol issues?  hum.  I think so.

Also, do you suppose peeps who eat grain-fed cows could possibly have a reaction to the grains they've eaten causing health issues of all sorts?  Cancers, asthma, weight gain, allergies, behavioral problems, intestinal problems?  I'd venture to say, "Yes."    

Shouldn't cows be eating GRASS in the first place instead of grain? In Dueteronomy 11:15 King James Bible, the Lord states,

And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

HE doesn't say GRAIN.

FINDINGS ON THE COMPUTER:  Healthline says, grass-fed cows eat (mostly) grass, while grain-fed cows eat (mostly) an unnatural diet based on corn and soy during the latter part of their lives. To maximize growth, the cows are often given drugs, such as antibiotics and growth hormones.

Web MD says, Are grass-fed cows better?  Studies have found that grass-fed beef contains two to six times more omega-3 fatty acids than feed-lot beef.  Omega-3 fatty acids have been found to help prevent and treat many diseases.  They include heart disease, stroke, autoimmune diseases such as lupus, eczema, rheumatoid arthritis, and others.

My Husband LOVES BEEF and we eat all the cuts of beef.  His trigs are too high and I have high cholesterol.  Hum.  If I choose to eat less beef and only eat the leaner cuts of the cow, then I suspect my cholesterol will lower and my Hubs trigs will lower.

Leviticus 11
And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

I will be reading Leviticus as a Devotion in the days to come about food.  I wasn't raised to respect the Biblical FOOD Laws as I was raised to believe that we are saved by grace because of Jesus.  It wasn't food that saved our souls.  I have come to believe that FOOD does play a very important part in our HEALTH though.  I believe this more than ever.  

I am a BORN AGAIN Christian because Jesus is my personal Savior.  I believe the Bible to be God's word.  I was raised that I am saved by grace and not by the laws of the Bible.  Yet, Jesus says, that He has come to fulfill the law.  Jesus is the word of GOD.  THE WORD.  So what HE says is truth.  He doesn't say He has come to do away with the laws, but He fulfills the LAW.

MATTHEW 5:17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

The types of food we eat is not the way to SPIRITUAL SALVATION.  The foods we eat does matter though and it is the way of salvation for our bodies while we are living on planet earth.  We can be healthier while we are alive when we follow God's instructions about food.  We can have LIFE eternal through the saving grace of the Lord Jesus when we BELIEVE He is the only begotten Son of God which is the sacrificial lamb who died for our sins.  We have SALVATION through HIM.  We are saved through HIM.  Because of being SAVED, we are cleansed from original sin and we are adopted into the FAMILY of GOD.  We can boldly enter into the throne room of God in prayer without using a ritual or another person to visit with God about the petition of our prayers.  Jesus prays for us.

We can begin to understand the things of God when we are saved when Jesus is our personal Savior.  We are filled with His Holy Spirit and sealed for the day of redemption when we are spiritually born again through Christ.

I believe that I will do my best to follow God's instructions about certain types of food that are alright to eat.  Not eating BACON is going to be a tough one for me.  I can eat TURKEY bacon, I guess.  Stay away from pork.  Whatever a pig eats shows up on the pig's skin in a matter of hours. He's a scavenger and we pay a price when we eat what has showed up on his skin.  If he has eaten garbage and we eat him, then we have eaten garbage.  Bad news and yet, I have continued to eat pork.  Not often, but still I have.  I had bacon just yesterday.  Do I love my GOD more than I love BACON?

Salad it is.  I am working at being healthier which means I have to make different choices than I have concerning food and spending.  With having cancer, I am evaluating what I need to do to be healthier.  Eating cruciferous foods has a punch against cancers.  Chomp away my friend and make better choices come what may.  Salad it is.

I like what Annette Reeder says about BIBLE FOODS.  I ordered one of her devotional books and plan to read it as I recover from surgery.  What BIBLICAL foods should I be eating that I haven't been?  Pomegranate.    

If I do not live much longer on earth, I will make my HOME in heaven where there is no better place to live.  There's no tears there and JOY IS UNSPEAKABLE.  If the Lord allows me more time on planet earth, then I will do my best to live differently for Him.  Lord willing.  

~d

GRASS-FED VERSES GRAIN-FED BEEF

 

EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING ACHES

EVERY OUNCE OF MY BEING ACHES FROM MY HEAD TO MY TOES! but we got 'er done.  We did it.  We loaded two loads of furniture today onto a trailer and in a pick-up truck moving the items to storage and the COTTAGE.  After a VERY busy day, I took a nap before SUPPER.  

We started our moving excursion at 7 in the morning and finished around 2:30 in the afternoon with a LUNCH BREAK in all of this.  

This evening, I don't believe I'll have any problems or delays in sleeping through the night.  I'm that tired and ache all over.  My old body is feeling what I have put her through for months now. I've rested along the way, but the packing, shuffling, lifting and carrying has worked me over. Today was no exception.  I was busy with the move.

Our Daughter, Son-in-law and Grandson were a HUGE HELP with this move.  HUGE.  Thanking GOD for them.  They drove over their pick-up truck pulling a large trailer.  Hubby and I had the brunt of the furniture that was going to storage and the COTTAGE on the main floor of our house already so there was no climbing up and down stairs to load the things.  Hubby and I did what we could ahead of time and then they took over and loaded and unloaded the trailer twice.  

Only the three sets of mattresses and box springs were upstairs needing to be carried down.  We ran out of gas and didn't get these pieces down the night before.  The mattresses and boxsprings were bagged in plastic bags which helped keep them clean through all of this handling and shuffling.  

The first trailer load was taken to the storage unit holding the 11 drawer Highboy, the four poster bed that was in pieces, the large 7 drawer dresser and large mirror, Queen size mattress with box springs, a step stool, 2 large curio cabinets, a sofa, a desk, the dining room table with 6 chairs, a dinette table with 2 chairs, a pie table, a small round table, 2 oriental end tables.  All was wrapped in moving blankets and strapped down.  We unloaded the goods.  Somewhat humid outside so the sweat poured.

Returned to our house, discussed about lunch and went to a local eatery.  Nice time out then returned to the house to continue loading items going to the COTTAGE.  An antique headboard, 2 mattresses with box springs, the sofa, two wing chairs, ottoman, 2 arm chairs and my Mom's China Cabinet.  On the drive over to the COTTAGE it began to sprinkle adding stress to an already uptight woman seeing her good furniture get rained on.  Rain was not in the forecast, but it sprinkled anyways.  Since everything was covered well, there was no damage.  We unloaded all the goods and sat in the living room to cool off and drink bottled water.

I felt a weight come off my chest after this was all unloaded with no damage or injuries.  A weight.  PRAISE THE LORD.  Now I was tired.  I drove to the main house and took a nap!  We both did.  I believe we had a very productive day.  Deep breath.

Thankful we are where we are concerning THIS 2023 MOVE.  Let the sorting begin.  This week-end, I will box up the remaining items in the upstairs junk room and carry the boxes to the dining room to stack.  As I pack this stuff I had best sort through things to see if I can pitch anything.  If all goes well, we'll load the boxes in the cars, unload and be done with it for the time being.  

I have the desire to get everything in order and have less of it to maintain.  This will be a complete overhaul of my LIFESTYLE.  Can I do it?  With God's help I'm already there.

This process is still in motion.  Lord willing, we'll be downsized and organized ready to live large in the small COTTAGE come Autumn when the temps start to cool down some.  Staying on track and calling it GOOD.  Can I hear an AMEN?

AMEN,
~d

      

JOY COMES IN THE MORNING

THE MOVERS ARE COMING IN THE MORNING.  7 AM TO BE EXACT.  In a lot of ways, I'm so ready to get the show on the road.  My energy level has tanked.  I have to be ready come dawn.  Shall see how it goes.

Praying that there are no injuries or damage to the movers or the furniture.  

Lord, please hear my prayer. 

This downsizing move has been in progress for months.  I started packing boxes in January.  Little by little we'd take small pieces of furniture and boxes to the COTTAGE as well as items needed to live there.  I can't help but be a little excited that the day has come that the larger pieces of furniture will be moved to the COTTAGE that we could not move ourselves in the little PT Cruiser.  Relieved that we will have HELP moving the other pieces that we will not be using into storage in which they will be out of the house and out of the way.  

Going through this process opens my eyes to how easy it has been to accumulate way too much STUFF.  I will continue to thin down after we get settled into the COTTAGE.  It has gotten easier for me to let go of some things, but I know I must get rid of so much more.  Going from a mild case hoarder to becoming a minimalist is like trying to put a 500 pound women in a size two dress.  It is extremely difficult to make this happen.

At the end of the day, I hope the furniture is all moved and we only have some boxes left to deal with.

Tis morning.  Joy has come.

~d 

SUMMER IS A HOTTIE

STEPPING OUTSIDE TO LOAD THE BACK OF OUR LITTLE CRUISER REMINDED ME of when we lived in HOUSTON umpteen years ago.  The oppressive heat stopped me in my tracks.  Breathing is more difficult when it is this hot.  I managed to get the back of the car loaded with storage boxes.  

On today's agenda, I needed to get my Alaska friend a birthday card.  A utility bill needed paid, some letters mailed, some birthday checks cashed.  Purchased some $2 BILLS.  Salad lunch under a shade tree today. 

After running errands, I switched cars and drove over to the COTTAGE across the river.  I needed to pay the utility bill in the little community as well.  There was no bottle water in the fridge, so I went to the Dollar Store and picked up some tea plus a bag of M&Ms.  I've been craving some for weeks now and grabbed some along with a small bottle of orange juice so I could take my iron supplement with OJ.  I'd read that when taking an iron supplement you should take it with OJ.  I need all the help I can get.

Then I went to the COTTAGE to sit and eat the M&Ms.  Right there on the package it mentions the ingredients and I should have avoided eating these little, round, colored chocolates with a crunch.  This product contains bioengineered ingredients.  Ouch.  There's those GMOs.  I will have to pay attention to the labels and say NO to the FDA approval of toxins.  You are not the people's friend.  Are we lab rats?  I seem to be willing. 

SO very quiet inside the COTTAGE.  I feel so comfortable in this small place.  Enjoying myself, I cooled off in the living room with the ceiling fan on while drinking a bottle of tea and munching my much lusted after M&Ms.  They were gone before I knew it.  A second in the mouth...a lifetime on the hips?

Figuring what I needed to do, I made myself a list.  Water the house plants and porch flowers first thing.  They looked sad as it has been overly hot and I wasn't there to give them a drink for a few days.  The large schefflera that I moved from the living room to the dining room a few days ago looked healthy.  I planned on moving this very heavy pot to the pink bedroom so the area in front of the window will be freed up.  

Carrying the oversized plant container made me sweat.  Heavy.  She looks good in front of the bedroom window.  MY VICTORIAN BEDROOM makes me eager to get moved over to this cozy place.  There is much clean-up and painting that will need done.  Thinking about our move and remodeling the COTTAGE keeps my mind off of having surgery later in the month.  It helps to stay busy and as long as I have strength to do so, I will.

My plans were to shuffle the house so when the mattresses and box springs arrive this week, it will be easy to get these items into the bedrooms without incident.  I managed to clear the pink bedroom floor space for the mattress/box.  I had to sit down and rest after doing this.

Next, I was going to shuffle boxes in the front bedroom.  As I sat, my Husband arrived.  He surprised me as he was working on boxing items in the Carriage House at the main house. Instead he came over.  We talked about what needs to be done before our movers come this week.  I told him I was getting ready to work over the front bedroom making room for the bed. He pitched in and made fast work of it.  

This bedroom still had lots of boxes that need gone through and until the floor to ceiling bookshelves are built, the boxes of dolls and books have to stay boxed up.  The main thing today was to stack along the walls these things.  Both sides of the room are stacked with boxes, but the area in front of the double window is cleared enough for the bed to be set up after the mattress and box arrive.  Done.  Ready to go.

Next the Dining room needs all the boxes stacked along the walls so there is room to waltz through into the bedroom with ease.  Done.  Tomorrow I will work on the living room.  I have baskets filled with books and magazines that I will move.  The two old Morris chairs will be moved into the Dining room so our two blue wing chairs and sofa fit into their new places.

Temporarily I had a metal cart in the Living room to hold silver plated trays and other Kitchen small appliances.  This will be moved to the Kitchen after I can make a path for it.  I hope to vacuum the carpet so the floor is half way clean. 

The COTTAGE is small and I have spent hours thinking about where each piece of furniture should go to where it isn't cramped and to get as much furniture in here as possible without having to not use all of our furniture.  It's been a mental work out.

We're almost there.  Over the last year, we have slowly moved pieces of furniture into the COTTAGE along with a multitude of creature comforts and things we plan to live with.  

The movers this week will have be dealing with what we will not be using inside the COTTAGE and then a few things that we couldn't haul over in the cars that we'll be using.  

Going into storage, they'll be loading a sofa,
a dining room table with six chairs, 
a dinette table with two chairs,
a four poster bed with heavy mattress and box springs,
a large dresser with mirror, 
a piano,
a Highboy,
a Pie Table,
the miniature washing machine,
a Plantation Desk,
another desk,
can't think of what else for the storage unit.
The storage unit will house things for now just so we can get out of the house.  These things will be dealt with after we get the house ready to market.  

Then the MOVERS will move furniture that will be taken to the cottage.
Two wing chairs and a ottoman,
sofa,
my Mom's China Cabinet,
the Victorian headboard,
two mattresses and boxsprings.
The patio furniture will need to go as well.
When this is done, I will sigh with relief that it is DONE.  PTL.  

Lots of boxes yet to move.  These will be done once again a little at a time using our cars.  Our two recliners and the tv will be left behind as this is where I will recover after surgery.  We will have a fully functioning Kitchen and Bathrooms.  Then the touch ups on the house will take place as I recover.  I will work on paperwork, write a book and rest as Hubby does the manual work.  It will be a busy time for us and I feel somewhat bad about having to have surgery during this time, but then I have cancer so I have to do what I have to do.  

We're getting there and I can see progress.  That's a good feeling.  Finally there is a coming together that needs to be.  This has been a unusual move for us and I will be thankful when it is completed.  The getting settled will take some time.  I will need to continue walking and lifting light weights after I recover from surgery.  Studying up on how to eat and what to eat will be ongoing.  No more M&Ms for awhile.

In September, I am suppose to visit with a Gene Counselor.  That will be a first.  How do I feel about it?  Not sure.  I received the questionnaire in the mail.  There has been very little cancer in my family.  Makes me wonder.  My thoughts are that when I was a child, I was exposed to too much radiation in the early 1960s from nuclear fallout from when nuclear bombs were tested in Nevada.  Who do I blame for this?  Our government?  Satan?  

Then there's the Tubal Ligation I had as a 24 year old woman that I regret having had done as I believe it messed up my hormones big time.  So many years with issues.  I regret that I was not at a place in my Christian walk where I communicated with my Heavenly Father more in-depth about birth control and children.  My suggestion to others considering this surgical procedure is DON'T DO IT!  The stats on those who have a Tubal Ligation screams loudly that you will more than likely have to have a Hysterectomy within 10 to 15 years after having this done as you will bleed very heavy to the point that you will go along with a hysterectomy to stop the bleeding. 

Fibroids will grow causing issues.  Polyps will grow.  Thickening of the uterus will take place. I will share DON'T HAVE YOUR TUBES TIED.       

Praise the LORD.  I have much to do while still here on planet Earth.

No sad thoughts.  I need to be thinking about the good things of GOD,

~d