[QuilterInVA]

Good afternoon, ladies! A love day with temps in the 60s after rain this morning. The fruit trees are starting to bloom - so pretty!

I hope Faye is recovering nicely and will soon be home.

I use a battery-powered toothbrush. Very portable and highly effective and cheap. It sure cleans better than the manual brush.

Jean, that was wise of you to plan hosting the 2 meetings close together.

Maggie, what's Cecil up to these days - and the boys?

Sorry, but only time for a short post. Have a great day.

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

It is gonna be a hot one today. It is currently 62º with a fire alert for everything is so dry and expected to climb to 84º or above. I am glad we have decided to plant in pots this year because it looks like we have jumped from winter right into summer. We slept last night with the ceiling fan on. :

The folks working on the gas line in the alley started early so it started the neighborhood dogs to singing. Our two were asleep but very soon were wanting to go outside. They are inside now and napping and the workers in the alley are quiet.

I got my order today from the Artisan Table ~ Cooking Enthusiast that consisted of a straw holder that is tall enough and those lovely hand-forged stainless steel soup spoons and ladle. The handles are round and black antiqued hammered on the ends in different pig tail designs. The spoon part is shiny stainless that match my other utensils I have gotten from there and our eating utensils. Each soup spoon has a different twist to the handle. I have now gotten all of the serving pieces they offer and hope they get some more but I don’t know what else I need, really. That ladle is so pretty I am going to hang it on the wall in the kitchen.

Will went to the market while I was still snoozing away and came home with some great looking fresh fruit. Strawberries that are nice and dark in color and I hope they taste like strawberries. This is the month that fields and fields of them are getting ripe in CA. They have a Strawberry Festival down town and it is always fun to go to. Each booth has a different way to fix strawberries and give out tastes before you purchase. We always went to those when we lived on that coast. I would drive by the fields on my way to work and some workers would flag me down and give me a couple crates of nice ripe berries to share with my co-workers. Some berries were too ripe to send to market so I was there at the right time to get them. They knew my car so flagged me down on several occasions. l loved driving by those strawberry fields for they always smelled so good. And the orange groves when they were in bloom ~ such a nice place to be at that time of their growing season.

I don’t have a clue what I am making for dinner this day. Perhaps I will know better when I wander out to the freezer and shop. I should do that soon so whatever it is I want to thaw may take a while. I think it is time to make some Panko covered baked chicken breasts. I can thaw those in cold water later this day. Baked chicken and fruit sound good to me right now along with some green veggie. Broccoli I think. Will doesn’t like broccoli but he can have corn instead. I love broccoli with some lemon juice squirted over it and sprinkled with a tad bit of freshly ground black pepper. Yep, I will have broccoli. My mother doesn’t like broccoli but my father did so we had it growing up. I think it was just father, me and one of my younger brothers that ate it. We always had fresh lemons around back then so I learned to give my veggies a squirt. We never did the cheese on veggies thing.

That Beanie is a hoot. He brings tree limbs in and chews on them and now he has brought a rock a little bit bigger than a golf ball and dropped it at my feet. I went to reach for it and he grabbed it and ran to the other room with it. Little skuder doesn’t need us to buy him any toys for he finds stuff to play with in the yard. I can hear him batting it around on some slick surface ~ entrance to the front door on in the kitchen. I will find it later and 86 it. He certainly is different than Ragg Mopp in this behavior. They are totally different in many ways.

JEAN Sounds like you are a busy lady. What dessert did you decide on making? I have a 56 recipe booklet that has lots of goodies to make for pot-lucks. It is called Best-Ever Potluck Favorites put out by the “Better Homes & Gardens” folks. It is a neat booklet to have for when I am looking for something to take somewhere it gives me ideas. I have figured out the points+ values for the recipes since they were kind enough to give the nutritional information in the recipes. It was put out in 2009 and I have the ISBN number I can give you if you want to search for a copy. The sections are: Crowd Pleasing Appetizers, Savory Main Dishes, Satisfying Sides, & Sweet Temptations. I have made several recipes from the booklet and lightened them and they turned out great. Anyway it is a fun pamphlet to have for “ideas.”

SUSAN It is totally amazing how quickly Cecil is growing. Tomorrow he gets to go spend a couple days with the vet for he gets neutered and his front claws removed. He is delightful and greets me every morning with the dogs. They all come in my office and the dogs sit at my feet and Cecil hops up on a chair and all wait for their "good boy" yummie treats. It is cute how they patiently wait for the first to get his. I start with the oldest and then work down to the youngest. It is so funny to see Cecil jump straight up 4 feet in the air from a sitting position. I have my new tooth brush in there charging now as I type. It is an Oral-B "cross action power max." When fully charged it will do 30 two minute brushings without being in it's charger so I can take it on our mini vacation without having to take the charger along. My teeth are patently waiting for it to be charged. I don't feel I do as good a job using my little manual brush after using an electric one for years. I get to go get my teeth cleaned later on this month.

DONNA FAYE Hope all is going well with you and you are resting fine now that you are in the recouperating phase. We all miss you here.

Have a wonderful afternoon Magnolias. Summer is upon us.

[Jean]

Susan -- My thermometer said it was 81 degrees this afternoon while the tv said it was "only" 75! Whichever, it was a beautiful afternoon and extremely unusual for Iowa this time of year. What is the brand of your toothbrush? I do have an extra outlet in the bathroom so could put in a shelf to hold a charger, and it would be out of sight.

Maggie -- I know you will enjoy your new kitchen purchases! We had strawberries last night, at a card club I subbed for. They weren't too bad considering the time of year. I always overdose when they are in season here. I had to chuckle about Beanie and his rock. I will think of Cecil tomorrow. I like Oral B products so will take a look at their toothbrushes. I couldn't find the dessert recipe I was looking for so am hoping the gal who sent it to me in an email will resend it. It is made with a cereal "crust" and ice cream. Thanks for the cookbook offer, but I have way too many now, and am guilty of not using them.

I am heading in the direction of bed. I started a new book last night, and not sure if it will hold my interest. There are too many characters to keep track of when I'm trying to relax before going to sleep. See you all tomorrow!

[Maggie]

GOOD EVENING MAGNOLIAS

Thought I would check in before going to bed this night and here I am. I just finished cutting up the strawberries and putting Splenda on them and into a bowl ~ now they are in the fridge. They will be so yummy tomorrow. Tomorrow I will slice up the pineapple. The bananas look a bit green yet and the green grapes are in the fridge gettin cold.

One of the ladies that work at the museum is currently going through old newspapers clipping articales of interest to save and she cliped one for Will to bring home to me. I'll type it out here for it is a short blurb from 1922. I laminated it, for it is now yellowed and brittle and can use it for a book mark.

POPULAR MANX CATS
"The origin of Manx cats is now attributed to the arrival of these cats on the Isle of Man from ships belonging to the Spanish armada that were wrecked there. They were probably brought from Japan or eastern Asia. They are a distinct species with short forelegs, and elevated hindquarters, and differ from other cats somewhat in call, ways and character. They vary in color. People who have owned them for long periods say they are not good mousers or hunters. In character they are rather similar to a dog, being highly companionable and having some of the qualities of a guardian, but they are not considered hunters in any sense of the word."

JEAN I am sure you will find an electric tooth brush to suit you. Oral-B are also my favorite electric ones. Beanie will miss Cecil when he is taken away to the vet at 9 am in the morning. I will surely miss him also. It got up to 85 degrees here this day and tomorrow will probably be the same.

Nighters Magnolias. I am off to cut some zzzzzzzz's.

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining and it's a warm 55 degrees already! I need to head to the grocery store after lunch bunch, so will work to finish cleaning and decluttering this morning. Ernie is shedding big time so will probably have to do a quick vacuum in the morning.

Maggie -- I was surprised to see you here this morning and then realized what time you posted. Have you ever seen or tried Stevia sweetner? I guess it is avaiable at WM but I haven't checked. It's supposed to be better for keeping blood sugar under control. I'll bet Cecil would know what to do with a mouse should one ever appear!

I need to get my rear in gear and on with the day! Have a wonderful Wednesday and enjoy!

[Maggie]

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is currently 62º’s and going to get in the high 80’s this day. A long hot week. I guess I need to get used to it for I do think summer has arrived with a bang. Frog leaped right over spring again.

Well Cecil is at the vets now and I will miss the little scudder for the next couple of days. Beanie is already looking the house and yard over for him. He will miss him more than Ragg Mopp will. We were supposed to not feed Cecil anything after midnight last night and I told Will that Cecil eats his last few bites right around that time. He was in here at 11:55 to get his last few bites in before bed for sure then we picked up his food so he didn’t get any this morning.

I am sneezing and my eyes are watering ~ must be from the dust that the gas line folks are stirring up in the alley. They have a ditch dug right down the middle of the alley now. When they leave they will probably just shove the dirt over the ditch and leave it to turn to mud when it rains. The rocks that were on top of the dirt trail will be all mixed in the ditch but we are hoping the city will re-rock the alley. The trash trucks will not like driving a muddy alley picking up cans for sure. So we can hope that it will be re-rocked. But in the meantime it sure makes me sneeze.

It is Wednesday and I don’t usually cook dinner this day and have Colonel Cluck but since we went out last night to Applebees I have the thawed chicken breasts in the fridge to make the dinner I had planned to make yesterday. I had dinner all planned and the chicken thawing when Will asked me if I wanted to go out to eat and I quickly put the in the fridge.

Will just came in with a couple of WW1 bayonets to get cleaned for the museum. Gracious sakes they are old. The sheath for the sword is also metal. I love seeing the old things he brings in to clean. They let him bring these things home for he is trustworthy and has all the cleaning equipment and tools here in the basement to work with. This is funny, well actually really sad ~ when the gal that used to work there and got fired heard that Will was cleaning guns and such said, “They don’t need cleaning for they came there clean.” She must have needed better glasses for the items Will has brought home to clean have surely needed cleaning badly, very much so. She just didn’t like guns and knives so left them in storage in boxes where they couldn’t be seen by the visitors to the museum. The new man in charge is having new cases built to display the “old west” and “war” material. Those are all part of the history around these parts. She left in storage anything that didn’t have to do with the German-Volga history. Lots of Germans settled in this area and that was all she was interested in.

JEAN No I haven't tried that sweetener. I have lots of Splenda of all forms here but when I run low I will give it a try ~ maybe. The gal that we got Cecil from said some of her Manx were squemish about mice and others would catch & play with them. Guess it depends how much the "hunter" has gotten in the Manx from breeding with other cats through the years. I think Cecil would love to find a mouse and attack it. Probably play it to death. What dessert did you decide on making for that party? Bet it was yummy.

It is time for me to go see what I will fix for our lunch this day. I know we will have some fresh fruit of some sort with it. Type at y'all later.

[Jean]

Maggie -- I'll bet your house is too quiet without Cecil. I am surprised they are keeping him 2 days; when we had Mom spayed and declawed they just kept her overnight. Ernie wasn't declawed but we brought him home that same night he was neutered. My car said it was 81 when I came home from bell practice tonight. We had NO wind today and it was absolutely a delightful day to be outside. Sorry about the dust bothering you. My mom had allergies so know one can be miserable. I made a German chocolate cake, poked holes in it and spread butterscotch caramel ice cream topping on the top, let it cool completely then frosted with Cool Whip, and sprinkled Heath bar crumbs over the top. I hope it's good since I haven't made it in a long time. I am heading off to bed as I have some last minute touch up cleaning to do in the morning. See you later tomorrow after everyone leaves!

[Maggie]

GOOD EARLY AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

It is gonna be another warm one this day and that is the forecast for the rest of the week. Not much going on here right now for Will is at the museum and the dogs are outside supervising the workers in the alley and Cecil is at the vet recouperating.

I worked on my Schwans order and didn't order much at all this time. boneless porkchops which we are out of are so good to have for they work for several dishes not just as porkchops. I slice them thin for veggie or noodle dishes for instance or cut up in cubes for chili verde. I like to use them for all fat has been trimmed off and they are always a good cut of meat nice and tender. I also ordered what is called "Starter Crusts" for pizza type meals. No thawing is required. Two 13" crusts come in a package along with an oven ready tray on which to cook them. Having them in the freezer sure makes it easy to whip up something quick when we have unexpected guests pop in at a meal time. Or when we just say "come on over." I like to be prepared and not have to make a run to the market but go to my freezer to shop. I'll be shopping in the freezer to decide what to make for dinner this day. I am leaning toward a nice "stir fry" for I have a variety of veggies I can use and rice to serve it over.

JEAN The vet here likes to keep the cats he has operated on for a day or two to make sure they are doing well and can care for them. Cecil has such big toes and that is probably one of the factors for the bigger the toes the bigger the nails are to be removed ~ plus he has six toes on each foot. And being neutered on the same visit must require some extra TLC from the doc. That is my guess anyway. Your cake sounds yummy ~ send me a piece please. Can you also send me the recipe? That sounds like something I would like to take to pot-luck.

Have a wonderful day Magnolias.

[QuilterInVA]

Good afternoon ladies.

I sm sending this from my Kindle so it will be short.

Faye posted on facebook today that she is still oñ liquids because she still doesn't have enough bowel sounds and will not be going home until Monday.

I am going to be tonight.

Have a great evening.

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! My crafty club has come and gone; I should be cleaning up the kitchen . . . that will happen later. It's another beautiful, no coat kind of day in my corner or the world. It's not quite as warm as yesterday, with just a breeze. Beautiful! I did do a quick WW weigh in, lost 2.4# last week and gained .2 this week. I thought sure I had lost from looking at my scale. Nuts!

Maggie -- I need to find my Schwans catalog although I know there is one online. My guy didn't come this week for whatever reason. We've had a different one every time for the last couple of months. I really liked the one who came in the morning because I was always home. I do hope Cecil is on the mend. I just read an article saying that a just delcawed cat should have shredded paper in their litter box so the regular litter doesn't get in their nail holes before they heal. We never did that with any of our's and the vet never suggested it either.

Susan -- Thanks for the update on Faye. I really thought she would be home by now. Her surgery must have been more extensive; here it's usually a same day surgery and the patient goes home at night. Have fun tonight!

I need to sort through emails and dump the junk I don't want. Somehow I've gotten on a lot of business lists trying to sell me things I don't need. Enjoy the rest of your day and evening!

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies! A love day headed for the 80s. The high of 86 yesterday set a new record for that day. We had some thunderstorms last night and there might be more over the weekend but the sun is shining now.

I'll check again on Facebook today to see if Faye posted anything. I did give her our get well wishes.

Today is nothing but housework, my walk and the Y. Tomorrow I'll be having tea with Glory.

Have a great day.

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

Good afternoon Magnolias. We have warm weather and it feels like summer this day. Cecil came home this morning and the vet said he hadn’t eaten while he was there so he ate a bit right when he was let out of his crate. He also wanted a “good boy” just like usual when I gave the dogs one. The vet said to use the same sand for his butt hut like usual. The dogs wanted to play but he wasn’t quite in the mood and just wanted to go in our room with the door shut so he could get a good nap. He made a check about this room to make sure nothing was moved before he wanted his nap. I sure hope he eats when we leave him with vet when we are gone to Texas for that would be a long time to go without food. But he will eat when he gets hungry. Little scudder is awake now and has gone outside.

Will is going to grill pork chops for dinner this day and I’ll make some Herbed Rice and a nice green salad to go with and grilled Ciabata onion buns. Y’all are welcome to come on over for we always grill more than we need for one meal.

We were checking the contents of our “go bags” & the emergency bags we keep in the Jeep to make sure everything was up to date. I have a travel “go bag” that I have everything I need for my personal hygiene and Will has the same type of bag with what he needs in it. We keep a kit in the Jeep with a space blanket, first aid kit and that sort of thing in case of emergency. Just trying to be prepared in case we need the “stuff” sometime. Ya just never know. We always carry a “snatch-em-strap” in the Jeep. I bought one when I got my first Jeep and used it a lot for helping other folks out. It is good to have in case we need to be helped out also, besides helping others out of being stuck somewhere. You would be surprised how handy having one of those straps is.

JEAN Thanks for the heads up on that yummy sounding cake and I will surely make it for a pot-luck. Sorry you showed a tad bit of a pound gain my dear but it will be gone in a flash. Our weather does seem better than you are getting this week.

SUSAN Thanks for the heads up on Donna Faye. We do surely miss here around here don't we. AH having tea with your frined is such a delight.

Will wants to go top off the gas tank and wants me and the dogs to go along so I am off here now. Type at y'all later.

[Jean]

Good Afternoon, Flowers! The sun is shining brightly, a slight wind, and it's 82 degrees. Another summer day before spring officially begins. I had my nails done first thing this morning, met with the pastor on ordering vases and a sanctuary lamp, then headed to the lake with Bob. He had to get a # off the dock to renew the permit and bring home the piece that broke last fall. We came home, out of our way, through Sheldon to pick up some tractor parts. I did get to do a quick walk through in a Pamida store. We used to have one here (kind of an all lines discount store) until WM showed up and ran them out.

Susan -- I can't believe the nice weather we have been having this week. I'm just afraid we will have a miserably cold April and May to make up for it. Having tea with Glory sounds a whole lot more fun that housework and the Y.

Maggie -- I hope the vet will let Cecil be with RM and Beanie while you are gone. Your dinner menu sounds good. We ate lunch at Perkins in Okoboji; I had a grilled chicken salad which was huge. Bob carries some tools, a nylon towing strap, first aid kit, and jumper cables in his pickup. I have a blanket in mine and he probably does too, also some bandaides.

Enjoy the rest of your FANTASTIC Friday day and evening!

[Jean]

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining and the computer says it is 68 degrees outside. I'm in the process of making a grocery list, need to make a WM stop, and want to pick up the gift shop money and check if there are any bills to pay. We are going to the 90th birthday party this afternoon!

I'm off to get my day going. Have a super Saturday and enjoy!

[Maggie]

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

Well folks I slept in and it sure felt good. Aren’t we supposed to sleep in on Saturday? I always wanted to as a child so in my second childhood here I am doing just that. This day is now 69º’s and said to go up to 84º’s today but it usually gets higher than they say it will.

Cecil is doing just fine and doesn’t act any worse for the wear. I still feed him up on a small table so the dogs don’t get his food and he hopped up there with energy just like before. I was thinking I would move it to the floor while he recoups and close the door when he eats but that hasn’t been necessary. I cut a small round of “non-skid” to put under his food dish so it doesn’t slide around on that table and go crashing to the floor. He gets his water from the dog dish out in the kitchen. They all like ice water so we float a few cubes in it when we are out there.

While shopping yesterday Will came back with five bags ~ yep that is the number 5 ~ of the WW candies. The store was selling the regular $2.00 bags for 75 cents each. Reason being, the packaging is being changed. The new points+ value is on these bags which will last me for a long, long time, for I don’t eat more than one at a setting and I don’t have them every day for sure. Weeks go by before I have a desire for candy. I dumped them all out in my desk drawer which holds “this and that” for I hardly ever open it. They are good candies made by Whitman’s. It will be interesting to see what the new packaging looks like.

The mail just came and there was a gardener’s catalogue that looks real interesting giving us great ideas for raised gardens and how to shade them. We can build some neat raised beds with protection from the elements. As you have probably gathered, we are determined to have a garden this year ~ especially since the failure of our last attempt. We will get down to the business of some serious planning when we get back from our weekend away to Texas. But it doesn’t hurt to see what is out there to give us some ideas. I probably will continue to bore y'all with this garden talk this year.

JEAN Enjoy that birthday party for the 90 year old. I love birthday parties for the old folks. I am an old folk now and had a lovely "surprise" birthday party. Life is good ~ consider the alternative. Our temps are real close this day. Stay cool.

SUSAN & DONNA FAY Howdy to the two of you. Hope all is going well with you this beautiful spring day.

Type at y'all later ~ I am off now to do my Saturday chores which aren't much at all but need to be done. My hair is dry now from my moring shower and I should see what it looks like since I just left it down and didn't brush it up in the back. I'll get a nice short cut before we go to Texas later this month,.