Erika Kocsi – @kocsi_erika on X – “When I Walked the Streets of Assisi”
Erika is so talented. Her watercolors make you feel like you’re THERE. I WANT to be there in this one, especially. Just beautiful. :0)
Walmart
This looks similar to my watch. I am NOT tech savvy. I can set my watch by myself, just barely, with a LOT of messing around. I breathe a sigh of relief when the time and day and date are correct. (Mine doesn’t show the month, though, just FR and 8).
Today was the first day since we had Leap Year that everything has been correct on my watch in the morning. “SOMETHING” is wrong and I have to stop and fix it. I think my problem stems from the fact that I use a 12-hour time frame, rather than going with military time, but it doesn’t SHOW a.m. or p.m. Hence, all the changing. I looked at it this morning and actually smiled. Small things make me happy sometimes. :0)
via Sam – @Britton65Sam on X
I have to whine one more time about the end of Lunch Bunch. I feel as though there has been a death in the family there is such a hole. We would have been leaving right now in order to join our friends for lunch, good food, good conversation, laughs and hugs. We have met every possible Friday for over 20 years, but time moves on and things change.
My friend Linda is in a retirement place. She has no car. She forgets to wear her hearing aid, so she doesn’t hear her phone ring. Sometimes her extremely busy daughter Patty is able to bring her to lunch, and we jump at the chance. Otherwise, I’ll now make a point of trying to visit with her after I go get my monthly massage, which has now been moved to Linda’s retirement place!
My friends Kay, and her husband Bud, are very busy doing various things around the house. Kay forgets what day it is, or forgets that today is the day for Lunch Bunch, or gets involved in other things. When I call and leave a message, she says she doesn’t get it. When I reach her, she says they have other stuff to do. Time has marched on. Needs change.
So, Lunch Bunch is a thing of the past. A wonderful memory. Some Fridays, if Patty can, we’ll meet her and Linda for lunch. Other Fridays, my husband and I will go for a brunch at The Dari. Most of the time, we’ll just enjoy our lunch at home. End of whine.
I’m hoping that the cat diapers I ordered for Abby will be delivered today. I ordered a package of 3 reusable diapers so that HOPEFULLY I can allow her in the house with the freedom she usually has. (I’ve told you previously that we just found out she has a terminal malignant kidney tumor that bleeds a lot.) She is 14, has other health problems, and is too old for MAYBE successful surgery. Fingers crossed that
I can get them on her
They fit and stay on
She doesn’t claw me to death while I’m trying to get them on
She gets used to wearing them in the house so we can increase her quality of life for the time she has left.
I feel guilty only bringing her in when we can have a cat-loving session with her in my lap. I can only arrange this a couple of times a day, resulting in my closing the door in her face many times when she would like to come in.
Have a wonderful Friday. I hope you have a nice weekend planned.
“You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, ‘Wow, you’re right! I never would’ve thought of that!’” – Dave Barry
Esther Shimazu
“A well trained dog will make no attempt to share your lunch. He will just make you feel so guilty that you cannot enjoy it.” – Helen Thomson
JoanneCooke.com
“You can trust your dog to guard your house but never trust your dog to guard your sandwich.” – Unknown
kimballpottery.com
“I once decided not to date a guy because he wasn’t excited to meet my dog. I mean, this was like not wanting to meet my mother.” —Bonnie SchacterLesley Anne Greene – veniceclayartists.com
“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.” — Andy Rooney
Olivia Brown
“My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That’s almost $21.00 in dog money.” — Joe Weinstein
I was going to bake pork chops for our dinner tonight, served with a side salad. I got to thinking that maybe my Shake n Bake for Pork might not be keto-friendly. I was right. It’s delicious, and I’ve used it for years, but it’s half of my day’s allowance for carbs. No go. – 12g total carbs, 10.3g net carbs, 13g fat, 26g protein, and 274 calories.
I got on the net and looked for substitutes that WERE keto-friendly. I found 2 –
PORK RINDS – this may be the best option long term. 0 carbs, 152 calories, 9 g fat, 17 g protein. I could get a bag, use my rolling pin to make crumbs, and store them in an over-center container. The other question will be taste, of course.
Coconut flour and Panko were also listed, but they have 8 net carbs and 21 carbs respectively.
So, a few minutes on the Internet and I found that I HAVE one of the best substitutes – almond flour – to use tonight. I’ll put the pork rinds on my grocery list for next time.
Making the switch to low carb eating takes a bit of work. The fact that my scales are finally noticing my efforts to lose the lard is reward enough.
“Handle every situation like a dog. If you can’t eat it or play with it, just pee on it and walk away.” – Unknown
juliemiles.co.uk
“Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul, chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we’re the greatest hunters on earth!” – Anne Tyler
Peter Vanbekbergen
“A dog desires affection more than its dinner. Well – almost.” -Charlotte Gray
Peter Vanbekbergen
“If you’re uncomfortable around my dog, I’m happy to lock you in the other room when you come over.” – Unknown
Ryan Lovatt
“A boy can learn a lot from a dog — obedience, loyalty, and the importance of turning around three times before lying down. ” – Robert Benchley
surreysculpture.org.uk
“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx
It’s rainy here today and tomorrow, so I’ll concentrate on inside stuff. No errands to run, other than getting the mail at some point, so nice spans of time to get things done.
Yesterday I finished cleaning up after all the furor over ‘someone’ leaving bloody puddles on Amber’s dog bed in the utility room. This has been a long process of cleaning things over and over, but we finally got Amber’s bed aired out sufficiently and enough washings of the covers, to put things back together. I also hosed out the 4 pieces of Abby’s litter box, though being and inside/outside cat, she doesn’t use it much. I think we’re finished now with the cleanup.
This is Amber and me in 2017. She’s bigger now. She is back on her normal food as of this morning. I fed her normal stuff last night, but half as much as usual, so she’s back to normal this morning. If she makes it through the day with no problems, I think we can say all is good with her. I ordered cat diapers for Abby which should be delivered tomorrow. These may allow her some freedom in the house, as I HATE having to shut the door in her face when she wants to come in. I’m still arranging for the ‘cat-loving’ sessions, but when I get busy, I can’t let her in and it kills me. Hopefully, these will allow her to be as normal as possible for the rest of the time she has. The vet said the bleeding will continue and probably get worse, so this is the best we can do. She doesn’t seem to be in pain, and she seems to enjoy the special cat-loving sessions.
I had a really nice chat with our son. He lives across the world from us, and is able to live how he wants to – no happier thing possible, as far as we’re concerned. He has a private language tutor, and he says he’s making really good progress now. His tutor and he have real conversations now, with his tutor then telling him phrases, or jargon, etc. to make his conversations more natural to the natives there. He’s meditating and has a site where he guides people into the practice. He has three languages on his phone and is on call to interpret or help others trying to communicate better. He is making music with his instruments or electronic gadgets. He is living in his condo, but plans on also having a house built out of the city at some point. A rich, full life. I’m SO glad to see it!
Sunday we marked 7 weeks since my husband broke his collarbone. I almost forget that he’s still healing, since he’s doing so well. I’m still watching him like a hawk, but we seem to be over the hump now.
I hit the 21-pounds off mark this morning, so I’m feeling I’m on the right track with my low-carb diet and my yoga practice. Tonight, for example, we’re having leftover spaghetti. My husband is actually having spaghetti with the sauce I made. I’m having the sauce over zoodles. The fact that I can have the sauces and things I make either over zucchini (zoodles) or cauliflower (cauli-rice) really helps me. I’m also eating a Mission Zero Tortilla in place of the dinner roll I used to eat from the deli. I’m making recipes from Suzanne Ryan’s Simply Keto cookbook. I haven’t found a recipe we don’t like yet. My husband is eating the frozen dinners I recently bought, thinking that, since they were high protein, they were on my diet. NOT! They are way too high in carbs for me. Next time I buy some frozen dinners, I WILL READ THE LABELS!
Isn’t this a fabulous photo? It makes me calm down inside when I look at it.
This is catch-up day for me. I’m trying to save Amber’s bed in the utility room after the cat has left bloody urine on it twice. It’s a process, and one I hope will be successful. I’ve been washing the covers and leaving the bed on the porch airing out a couple of times so far. The bed is large and expensive (and so are replacement covers) so I’m doing all I can to save them. She has another bed just like it in the living room, and another one – smaller, and different design – in the office.
This is an old picture, when Amber was half the size she is now, but it shows one of the two identical beds we have for her.
Both animals seem to be doing well. I’ll try a modified version of Amber’s regular food tonight and see how she does. So far, so good.
Abby
Our cat, Abby, continues to eat well and doesn’t seem to be in pain. I’m bringing her in at least once a day for a concentrated loving-the-cat session. We sit in my recliner and she is the focus of my attention for a half hour or so. It’s good for both of us. I tell her what a wonderful girl she is, how much we love her, and how rich our lives have been for 14 years because she came to live with us. We both purr. This is all we can do, since she won’t recover from the probable kidney cancer, tumor, and bleeding.
Walmart
I hate Daylight Savings Time. I wish they would decide in our legislature in Arkansas to adopt one time or the other and stick with it. People have tried, but it hasn’t passed yet. I don’t know what the problem is. The result – for an old person like me, is a real hassle on trying to get my watch changed. I finally got it changed to show all the correct information from having LEAP YEAR. I changed the date. The next day I had to change from a.m. to p.m. to get it to show the correct time because it was changing the date when it shouldn’t. This morning I had to change the DAY. I THINK all is good now. :0\ – And Saturday night and Sunday, I’ll have to do it AGAIN for Daylight Savings Time, plus all the other clocks in the house and vehicles. ARRRRGH! (I think I would win an award for whining and moaning hands down. :0) )
No errands today. I’ll get our mail and see if our trash can at the bottom of the driveway has been emptied. If so, I’ll drag it up to where it lives, trying very hard not to fall on my head in the process. :0) I don’t want it to blow around with rain coming tomorrow and Friday.
Jennie Smash
I broke through the 20-pounds-off mark yesterday for the first time and maintained it today. JUST BARELY got past it, but it counts. I’m hoping to continue this downward trend. The low-carb eating and logging my food on MyFitnessPal seems to be helping me to lose the lard, and the daily half hour or so of old lady yoga stretching is making me hurt less and feel more in control. The abdominal exercise I’m doing is making me feel stronger. I started only able to do 5 reps. I’m doing 15 now. I’m earning some nice sparkly stars to go on my desk calendar.
Last Sunday we hit the 6 week mark since my husband broke his collarbone. He isn’t in any pain (hooraaaaaaay!) and is able to do many more things. I don’t know yet what his range of motion will be when he heals completely. I’m trying to get him to gradually try to raise his arm and see how he does.
I hope your Hump Day is a good one, leading the way to a nice weekend.
This morning we left do some errands. The two most important were getting a new, larger collar for our dog, Amber, and getting my driver’s license renewed – actually changed to the “Real ID” form that is required now.
We were successful in getting Amber’s collar at Ace Hardware.
Getting my license renewed almost made me despair. I had gotten online, made a list of what I needed, gathered that. What I brought didn’t please the people there. We had to go back home twice to get things that would meet with their approval, of COURSE having to take a number and wait – a total of three times. This and $40 plus another $2.50 for using my credit card for payment, finally got me my new driver’s license. It is good for 8 years – assuming I live that long. :0)
This is a sample image I found online. There are all kinds of changes from my old one. The thing that stands out for travel is the gold star in the upper right hand corner. Then in the bottom right hand corner, another pic of you saying ‘donor’ for organ donor. I don’t know if that pic is there if you’re NOT a donor. I didn’t notice this until I got home, but the ID picture on the left also has a ‘shadow image’ right beside it that you have to tilt the card just right to see.
The people at the place were kind of pushing me to get a voter registration card. I told them I already had one. I had to show it to them, and tell them I had voted early before they let it drop.
By the time I finally had the new driver’s license in my purse and we had gotten back to the truck, we were exhausted by all the jumping through hoops. We decided to stop at the Subway. My husband got a foot long BLT and I got a Subway Club Salad. YUM.
It was funny. Our local Subway has totally been renovated since we went there last time. They had moved the entire service line to the back instead of the side and it looked like they were able to accommodate a lot more in-store diners. When I got to the checkout, I had no clue how to use my Subway Rewards card in the reader. The guy there had to help me through it. Then there was a different way for the card reader to read my credit card. I felt old and inept by the time I checked out, but thanked him for helping me through it.
We are all calmed down now. I’m going to go do my yoga practice and then I’ll see if I can find Abby. It’s got to be almost time for a good cat hugging session.
Yesterday, as we were trying to leave to take our cat, Abby, to the vet, our progress was impeded by a 3 foot (+-) black snake. My husband tried to nudge it on its way, but finally picked it up and tossed it out into the back yard. (One sign of spring I’m not particularly fond of.)
Our tulip tree, If you look carefully at the bottom center of this pic, you’ll see the recovering Amber keeping me company as I took pics this morning.
Redbud and forsythia
It really helps my mood to be able to invite Amber to join me and to walk around the yard a bit, seeing things coming to life, or in full celebration of the joy of the weather.
1) I told the vet that Amber was still vomiting from the one pill we gave her Friday with food to fight what we all thought was a bladder infection. We now have 4 anti-nausea pills to give her one per day. We also got some canned puppy food on the way home that we hope she can tolerate for a couple of days.
2) The vet basically gave Abby a death sentence. She has a tumor (he thinks) on her right kidney. He took x-rays, did blood work, examined her thoroughly. She has bad arthritis in her back legs. He showed me the enlarged kidney that is inflamed, misshapen and surrounded by a ‘cloud’ of ‘something else.’ He doesn’t think the surgery is a good idea, given the tumor, the arthritis, sugar in her urine, and the fact I told him she has a bad intermittent cough. She is 14. We okayed an injection for pain that is supposed to last 30 days. We also okayed an injection of antibiotic also lasting the same amount of time, which may make the bleeding better.
We have had a very expensive week with them, right at $1000 – only to learn that Amber was NOT the one who had the problem (and that was only found by accident by me), and an end-of-the-road notice for Abby. UGH. (The pills we got for Amber were NOT refundable.)
SO – We concentrate on trying to calm down Amber’s sensitive stomach and enjoy every minute of the time we have left with Abby. We have shared a good life with her. She has been a happy, loving cat and our lives have been richer for having known her. We will watch her carefully to make as sure as we can that she isn’t suffering.
“Sunrise, sunset Sunrise, sunset Swiftly fly the years One season following another Laden with happiness and tears One season following another Laden with happiness and tears” ~
from “Sunrise, Sunset” sung by Perry Como, written by Jerrold Lewis Bock / Sheldon M. Harnick
Mark Gray – @GrayMarker99 on X Mark Gray“Daybreak” – Matt Pearce – @MattPearceArt on XStephen Powers – @StephenPowers77 on X
I’m on a definite roller coaster with my weight this past week. I’m still weighing daily as my accountability to myself, but I’m trying to think of it only as a ‘monitor’ – a starting point for the day. It would just be nice if the scales lost their smirk a bit. Yesterday I made keto chili. Suzanne Ryan’s recipes in Simply Keto are really good. I also had a Mission Zero little bitty tortilla, (zero NET carbs due to 7 grams of fiber) and that was good, taking the place of the dinner roll I had been eating before I started watching my carbs again.
Pinterest
I’m earning a sparkly star for my desk calendar daily, continuing since Feb. 18th. Not a ‘habit’ yet, but I’m a tough nut on building those, and will continue my efforts.
I’m doing laundry and we’ll go shopping for groceries later, and that’s the ‘excitement’ for our day, other than the “Sausage, Egg & Cheese Bake” from Simply Keto for our dinner tonight.
We have a 1,000 gallon propane tank and then a 250 gallon tank. The large one is for the house and the small one for our shop. I painted the large one years ago, trying to make it look like a watermelon, not liking the plain white of the tank.
Yesterday two guys came to top off our tanks. One of them really liked the way I painted this, my husband told me. Made my day. :0)
I wish we could just call the delivery guys directly. The company went with a call center overseas somewhere. I ordered the propane on the 28th, going through the phone tree, which they had changed and was very confusing. I wrote a post on the 28th, whining about how long it took for me to order. I stressed that we had two tanks and needed both of them topped off. That message didn’t get through. Thankfully, these guys went ahead and filled both, though that wasn’t on their service ticket.
They came while we were at the vet with Amber. Thankfully, he left a message on our phone. I returned his call, leaving a message answering his questions, telling him what we needed, and saying I hoped he would come ahead, since we would be here the rest of the day.
We don’t usually buy propane until November, but we wanted to take advantage of the sale they were having and didn’t want to worry about not being able to get a fill up when we needed it, or the prices having jumped to something completely astronomical.
___________
Amber
Amber had an accident on her bed, something she almost never does, a couple of days ago. When she did it again yesterday, we took her to the vet along with a sample of some pee with a bloody tinge. He ran the sample, gave Amber an antibiotic shot, and some pills for a bladder infection.
This morning Amber had been sick on the floor around her bed. I cleaned that up and let the cat in before feeding Amber. I happened to come into the utility room where Amber’s bed is, and found Abby, our cat, on Amber’s bed in a funny position. I moved her, catching her in the act of peeing on the bed – something she never does – a blood-tinged pee.
Abby
I called the vet’s office. We will
1) stop the pills with Amber, and
2) bring Abby for an appt at the vet Monday morning. Apparently, it is SHE who is having the problem. The lady at the vet said we could bring back the rest of the pills for Amber for a refund.
Yesterday was a stressful and expensive day for us. Luckily, we are all still in one piece. Hopefully, we can clear up Abby’s problem. She is 14 now and has other health issues.
“Susan works organically – constructing an armature of wire, upon which she builds layers of textures and stitching, adding glazed papers and metal foils. To complete the work – carefully chosen beads, pearls, antique adornments and semi precious stones are added from a collection she has built over the years.” ~ “about” Susan Horth on her website, SusanHorthArt.com
Since not many folks feel as I do about February and I did NOT receive a gazallion signatures on my petition to do away with the month, I’ve decided to quit whining about it. You’re welcome. :0)
I’m seeing signs of spring in our yard and it makes me smile to go outside, though it’s still a bit too brisk to stay out there long. My daffodils are nodding happily, forsythia is starting to shoot forth yellow blooms, my iris are shooting their spears up, and our tulip tree is starting to bloom. NICE!
This is my desk calendar for February. As you can see, I got serious about my yoga practice on the 18th. I finished the month in fine style, earning 12 stars for the month. Hopefully I can earn 31 stars for March, building to a habit of yoga each afternoon.
vladimircech-Freepik.com
On my efforts to lose the lard, I reached my 20 pounds off goal. I’m planning to set new goals in 5-pound-increments, since they seem more attainable than the entire amount of lard I would like to lose. I’m trying to eat low carb. I’m eating cauli-rice instead of rice, zoodles instead of spaghetti, no pasta, a low carb tortilla instead of bread (though I haven’t tried them yet), careful choices on very little fruit, as little sugar as possible, cutting down on salt, lots of low carb veggies.
Cooking for us is a bit of a challenge, but so far, it’s going well. My husband has no interest in low carb. He has no interest in low sugar, either, but I’m adamant about him watching that. I’m hoping that by the end of March, I’ll be making good progress in my diet and exercise, moving more, feeling pretty good for an old broad. :0)
My husband is having trouble with his computer. I’m typing for him as he chats with various Microsoft techs. It’s tedious, but doable. Once this is over, I hope to get up to my art room.
creativeartworksblog 