Why Am I So Tired?

Been dragging around all week like a snail in slow down mode and kept wondering why.  Then it hit me.  I was over due for my B-12 shot.  Went online to our local Minute Clinic and signed in.  In a little over a half hour we got there, got my shot and were back home again.  Feeling quite a bit less snailsh.

Five on Friday

Another Friday and time to join Amy and the other bloggers at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.  It's been a fast week with not much going on, typical January I guess.  So here's my five.

One:  I made new "springy" pillows for our couch and finally put the Christmas ones away,

Two:  Even though it's just the middle of January I've started decorating my table for Valentine's Day because I love the color red.

Three:  It has taken me forever to get around to it, but I have finally cleaned out the two junk drawers in the kitchen.  The one on the right looks like I running an optical shop and that's after I took out a half dozen pair of glasses to donate.

Fourth: My daffodils are blooming and don't my Pansies looks sweet.

Fifth:   I learned the difference between Cottage Pie and Shepard's Pie.  And I made a Cottage Pie yesterday.  You can buy ground beef here, ground pork, ground turkey and ground chicken, but I have never seen ground lamb.  Always good to learn something new.

 That's my five, hope you have a great weekend.

A Little Zilla Time

No cross-stitching today.  Today it was time to spend some quality time with Godzilla.  Got a nice start on him, but unfortunately life has a way of intervening I have to get lunch started.  Today it's Shepard's Pie.  And I have a question for my English friends, why is it called Shepard's pie?

This is the End

This beautiful tray is a gift from Mac.  He bought it for me last week to reward me for going to get my mammogram.  It turned out fine, but I swear I'm not going to do it any more.  I think it's fitting that the tray has lemons and olives, two things that get squished flat, just like me.  My daughter says it's not so bad and I've heard other say that too, but it's not true for me.  It's horrible and hurts worse than I can say.  They say hold your breath and I have too, otherwise I'd scream. So I'm through, no more.

Monday, Monday

And quite a nice one too.  Bit misty for our morning walk, then hazy sunshine and temperatures around 70º, I love it.  Load of laundry done and hanging on the line, some cross-stitching, exercising and piano playing.  That last bit is still a bit painful, but I'm working through it.
Today's lunch is going to be paella.  Mac's brother and his wife gave us a paella pan and all the fixings for Christmas and so I'm going to give it a go.  I usually just do my paella in a skillet, it's been years since I had a paella pan and I'm not sure how often I even used it.  But we shall see.

Five On Friday

It's time to join Amy and the other bloggers at Love Made My Home for Five on Friday.  Boy the weeks just run away don't they.
Busy week with Doctor appointments that just slice up the week.  But the weather is gorgeous, highs in the 70's and loads of sunshine, so I have no complaints.

First:  This is a lovely Camellia that Mac cut and brought in for me this week.  Our Camellia blooms in January and it is doing a wonderful job this year.

Second:   Lettuce is growing out in the greenhouse and we'll be eating some in our salads today.  How great to have homegrown lettuce in January.

Third:  I love the cigar plant Mac has growing in the greenhouse, don't know its real name, we've always called it a cigar plant because that's what it looks like.  It was one of my Mother-in-law's favorite plants and this is the first time we've had much luck with one.

Fourth:  The smell of fresh vegetable beef soup.  We're having steak sandwiches for lunch today  and I cut up some of the steak to make soup.  I've never made vegetable beef soup before, so I just winged it, chopping up carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and green beans.  When they were about done I added kidney beans and stewed tomatoes.  Sure smells good.

Fifth:  I finished another book, Coffin Road, by Peter May.  I usually enjoy his books, but not this one.  Told from 3 POVs   just didn't  hold my attention. The first POV starts with a man washing up on shore with no memory, that was interesting.   The next POV was a rebellious, yawn, teenager,  the 3rd was a rather boring policeman.  By †he end I just didn't  care.

That's my five, have a great weekend.

Beautiful Day

It's a beautiful day here in the swamp, in the 70's with lots of sunshine, enjoyed our morning walk and even exercised today.  Must be getting better.
Crocheted the foundation row for my new afghan and ordered the rest of the yarn to make it.  It's going to be pink, green and white, nice and springy.
Finished a book that I've been working on for a while, it wasn't long, just so darn good I hated for it to end.  It's The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner one of my favorite authors.  I stumbled upon his writing more than 30 years ago when I read The Angle of Repose and fell in love with his writing.  he has never failed me.  This one is the story of Joe, a retired literary agent, and his wife Ruth.  They have retired to California where she is actively involved in the community.  He is pessimistic and is waiting for the inevitable decline into death.  He's not involved in his life and is instead a spectator.  He suspects that that is what he's always been.  Then he gets a card from a Countess that they had met and stayed with in Denmark more than 20 years ago.  The memories return and Joe begins reading his diary from that time and Ruth insists that he read it to her too.
Last night we watched a truly bad movie, The Secret Life Of Pets.  It could have been a cute little movie, it wasn't, we finally just turned it off, as our daughter told us she had done too.  They should have lost money on making this movie, but they probably didn't.  Here's hoping they don't make a sequel.
Hamburger steaks for lunch and I'm hungry.  Still can't taste much, antibiotics always wipe my flora and fauna out and it takes awhile for everything to come back.  My mouth is so dry that I'm having to use a spray to keep it moist.  Oh well, there are always trade-offs.

Tuesday in the Swamp

It's been cold here, down in the high 20's,  low 30's at night, but it's warming up nicely now, in the 60's for today and in the 70's for the rest of the week.  Can't ask for better than that  in mid-January.
Doctor visits again, my blood pressure had gotten out of whack due to illness, age, decrepitude, you name it.  But my doctor has already straightened it out, so I'm pleased.
I've been taking it easy, working on getting healthy for the new year, reading, cross stitching, little bits of housework, making soup.
Speaking of cross stitch, I have to share a kit my daughter gave me for Christmas, it's of Angkor Wat. I'm a long way from finishing the one I'm working on, but I have given myself permission to start this one in February and to alternate between the two.  The first one has taken so long, but it was a learning process and it's going so much faster now.  I find it very relaxing and that's good for my blood pressure too.
Have played the piano a little since the doctor said my wrist x-rays looked good.  Slow going as the pinky finger still isn't right and stretching my hand way out is still a bit uncomfortable, but I missed playing so much so I found some really easy stuff and have been plunking along.
Heading upstairs to sort through my yarn, I want to start a spring afghan throw and I need to see what colors I have.

End of Year Reading Round-Up

I'm a bit behind on this, but that's ok.  My Goodread's goal for 2016 was 150 books and I missed my goal by 4 books, not bad.

I'll list some of my favorite books of the year in no particular order and write a little about why they made my list.


1. by Khalid Hosseini
 The Kite Runner
This one had been on my TBR list for quite some time and I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.  Such a sad story and so full of self-discovery, who we are and who we thought we were.  The story set in Afghanistan and California will be with me for a good long while and remind me to think of how I treat others.

2. Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier

Another book about discovering who we are and how one simple act can change our world.

3.  The Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Sort of a cookbook, but so much more, telling the story of Eva who has the palate of a lifetime and becomes a world class cook and the people she meets through the years.











4.  Commonwealth by Anne Patchatt
What can I say, I love her writing and this is one of her best.  A kiss at a christening party affects a dozen lives.









5.  Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
What we don't tell others is often more devastating than what we do tell.  Growing up a mixed race family Chinese/Anglo  is harder than it looks and family expectations can destroy us.











6.  Be Frank With Me  by Julia Claiborne Johnson
What a great little book, I did not want it to end!  She works for a publisher in New York City, a reclusive author Mimi,  think of a female J.D. Salinger, must finally write a new novel, but she needs someone to run her house and take care of her son Frank while she does it so her publisher sends her Alice.  Frank is a joy, so Fred Astaire and Errol Flynn and so much more.











7.  Sacred Hearts by Sarah Durant
Imagine being put into a convent in Italy in 1570 against your will, how could you get out.  Fascinating story.









8.  She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
Another great book by him.









9.  The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
Slow going, but so worth it.


It was not a banner year for books, many I just read, lots of mysteries that though they're good will probably never make my best list.
Hoping for more good books in 2017.

Five on Friday

First Five on Friday of the New Year and I'll be joining the other bloggers over at Love Made My Home hosted by the lovely Amy.

I don't like to brag, but my family always gets me such neat and original stuff for Christmas that I have to use them for my Five on Friday.

First:  Our daughter had the pictures from our Japan/Korea/Cambodia trip made into a book for us.  It is beyond wonderful and such a great memory.

Second:  Mac got me another miniature sewing machine and my sister gave me a vintage pair of scissors and a thimble.

Third:  Mac made me a miniature Japanese garden, complete with Koi.

Fourth:    April made me a complete Gudetama 7-11 store, it is so fantastic.

Fifth:  Mac, who knows me so well, found some vintage copies of one of my favorite funny books from my childhood, Little Lulu.  She was such a favorite of mine, I can still sing the theme sone from her tv show!  

Little Lulu, Little Lulu with Freckles on her chin

In and out of trouble, but mostly always in

Using Daddy's necktie for the tail of her kite,

Using Mommy's lipstick for the letters she writes

Though the clock says 7:30 it's really after 10

Looks like Lulu's been repairing it again

Though she's wild as any Zulu and just as hard to tame

We love Little Lulu just the same, the same

Little Lulu we love you.

That's my Five, hope you have a good weekend.

Better, Better, Better

Feeling better each day, but boy it takes a while when you're older to get back to normal.  At the doctor's today  heard that they were so full of sick people last week that they had to turn them away and send them to Urgent Care.  Glad I was there this week, lots of good attention, have to go back in a week to make sure the bronchitis has all cleared up.
Glad everyone likes my new header, it was a Christmas present from Mac, had to order a frame for it, a black one, that got here today and it looks so good.  Now I need to find somewhere to hang it.