Cabin Fever And Playing Cards

I think that it is sad how things change. When I was a child my parents played cards with their friends. They played Rook. They seemed to have a good time. There was a lot of loud laughing; yes even my mother loved it. This didn't happen in the summer because there was too much work to do on the farm. In the winter the only thing that was a must was caring for the animals. Sometimes that was a terrible job. We lived in Iowa and for those of you that are familiar with the midwest, you know how terribly cold it is in the winter. The animals have to be fed, sheltered, and watered. The water had to be tended to, to make  sure it didn't freeze. So there was an element of Cabin Fever. There is only so much laundry, cooking, and answering little girl's constant questions. I have been told I was a little stinker. Hmm.

I had no idea that retirement would mean that I could play cards any time I wanted to. I especially like to play cards in the morning. Morning is the best part of my day. Usually my words make sense, my thinking is more clear. Ahh, on to my subject; cards. In order to play cards you do have to think.

Yesterday we played a game called Phase 10. I think I have talked about it before. The first game was wonderful; I won! I can't believe it!  Then we made the mistake of playing a second game. Oh, brother, what a mess. My friend said, "You just slowly went down hill."  Ya think?  lol  I have to laugh. If I didn't the world would not be a fun place to live. Thank goodness God gave me a good sense of humor.

My daughter's group of friends watch movies, they don't play cards or go dancing. I think something happened to skip a generation. Those "Kids" don't know what they are missing!

And Then She Got Away!

Our little Maggie Mae is so cute, so bubbly? So full of personality so full of naughtiness! Ever since we rescued her from a family type pound she has owned US. She is twice as spoiled as my children ever were.

We live in a restricted community that is made like a park that is very close to a lake. The yards are not fenced; it seems like if one person chooses to mow on Monday, everyone does.

Most every one in our community is not younger than thirty, actually not younger than forty…or fifty!

The majority of us have a pet, albeit a dog or cat. Our Maggie considers herself a diva and they are not worthy of her time. In fact there are two dogs that she hates, as well as their owner. She can sense when, what we call the “girls” take their dogs for a walk. She barks like a wild thing and runs from living room to bedroom like asthmatic craziness. That continues until they are out of sight.

Fran and I take turns taking Maggie out so while I was taking a shower, he took Maggie out just at the wrong time. The “girls” came around the corner and there went Maggie a hundred miles an hour. She completely stretched out her ring on her lead until it was straight. At that point she was free. She has only been free twice since she has lived with us. The words to the song come to mind. “Let freedom ring!” She ran down the hill and across the road. Fran said that she was scaring the lady to death.

As I walked into the living room, Fran was huffing and puffing and talking quite loudly about MY dog. Actually what he was talking about was how he looked when this escapade happened. He had his pajama bottoms on, an old coat with holes in it, and slippers on, oh, and especially no teeth in. Well, who cares, he was not out there to impress the ladies, just to make sure that our little princess didn’t get away!

He's Always Early

My husband is always early. It used to drive me nuts. Yup, it still drives me nuts!  We have only been married for three years, but you would think I would be used to it by now. I know something is going to happen when he arrives in the living room with "going to town" clothes on and says, "the bus is leaving!"

It started to be something my friends teased me about all the time. We would make plans to go to Branson, and we would discuss what time we would meet. They would say, "Well four o'clock in the morning is too early for us!" Hmm. The little digs would continue good naturedly, but it didn't phase him, he continued to be early.

PLUS, he drives like a speed demon, so we might be just a little bit early, but with his speeding we always end up early.

The only thing I have ever noticed that makes Him crazy if is someone is late. Imagine that!

The most important part is, that he always wakes up happy; lucky me.

Five Days And Counting......

Okie Dokie then; I have let my house go all year. Keeping house is very difficult for me physically and especially difficult for me mentally. It is kind of like exercising; I love to watch other people do it, but NOT me.

Well, as you can imagine, I can NOT imagine how dirty it is now. So this morning I cleaned and straightened my itty bitty pantry. It is about 4’ tall and 24” wide and as deep as 3 cans of veggies. It is impossible to keep things straight and organized. I did find things that will keep us fed for a long, long time.

We have another room that we do, indeed, call the pantry. Big pantry. It is much bigger. It is about six feet long. The shelves are about three feet deep. It is just hysterical when you think why we call it a pantry. Perhaps in years gone by, it used to have food in it. I have pots and pans, dishes, old plastic mixing bowls, dishpans, spaghetti pan that I should use, but don’t. I have some home canned tomatoes and green beans. And….yes I have some canned food that would not fit in the itty bitty pantry.

I checked it out this morning. It has a turkey oven, a rotisserie oven oh and extra silverware if we get company, which we never get. Those were the old days. The house used to rock with noise and filled with lots of grown-ups and children.

So any way, I did work this morning. Now I am sitting down, talking to you guys and watching Ellen D.

The washer and dryer are running and the dishwasher is just about ready to go and so am I. Have a good day!

When The Router Goes Down!

When the router goes down, there is a special kind of trauma that presents itself in the computer room. I go stomping out there, not exactly yelling at Fran, but talking loudly. Did you do this? Did you do that? The answers are all the same, “I know what I am doing.” Hmm, I wonder about that.

His first answer was “well I don’t see a red x on the two computers, I just see a red x on two little people.” That’s when the stomping proceeded. Lol He tells me that he has been on the internet and doesn’t understand why I can’t be on it.

I tell him to unplug the desktop, and he says, “go ahead.” The thing is a long way down there and we both have established a way to get the other one to do it. Any way, short story becoming a long one, he reset the router, and BINGO, it works like a charm. Yippee! I just really need my computers or I couldn’t talk to you y’all!

Mashed Potatoes Or Not?!

My girl is so good natured that I can tease her whenever I want to. Fran and I went to visit Melanie and her family the day after Thanksgiving. It was a lovely meal. She fixed turkey breasts which was delicious and fast, and easy. We had a delicious vegetable, stuffing, and especially mashed potatoes.
I watched her make the mashed potatoes. As I watched they got soupier (is that a word?) and soupier. She was using a hand held blender that is so easy to use. She said that she uses it all the time to mash her potatoes and that it works really well.
Of course, they tasted wonderful, her gravy turned out good, but she was really upset about her potatoes. After we finished our meal, I suggested that she use them for potato pancakes etc. etc. but she nixed the ideas that I had. Well, I couldn't resist but ask her if I could at least take her picture. Note the smile; love her to pieces!!
In the background you will see a container that is full of gooey butter cookies that I asked for. It is so cool to feel so special. Thanks, Melanie

Home Made Gifts

I can remember getting gifts wrapped in brown paper held together with "store string." Does anyone remember that term? Store string had a multitude of uses, but I can remember the butchers using it to hold the freezer wrap together on the meat that they sold in the grocery stores. This Christmas I got a gift wrapped in brown paper and tied together with store string. I have a feeling that the string was at least forty years old.

This year my daughter and I each made each other something home made. This is the first picture of twelve that I will post. She made a calendar with pictures and birth dates (yes Grandma forgets). The top of the calendar is 12x12 so I can put them in an album. Clever?! However, it is like a student getting on the honor roll all year. She is expected to do that the next year as well!.

Let me explain the picture of the goofy child laying in the snow with his swim suit on. Yes, that is my grandchild. I do have to claim him! He just got out of the hot tub and decided to lay in the snow.
My granddaughter celebrated her 6th birthday last year, and my daughter and her husband do go to Cancun frequently in the winter.
I have not posted anything for a long long time. It feels kind of weird to tell the truth, but fun too.
Fran's surgeries are over, his tests are over (hopefully) and the holidays are over. It sounds like a quiet winter, thank goodness. Fran is not out of the woods, but I am considering our glass half full.
Hopefully I will be on this little machine a lot in the future.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!