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#16

Maggie , 10-31-2012 03:26 PM

Wonderful Chilly Wednesday

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

My eyes are watering and I am not crying. Something in the air around here gets to me and makes my eyes water and I sneeze a lot. I am thankful that it doesn’t happen a whole lot for I surely don’t want to be medicated for it. The cat likes to prowl around under my desk and mess with the wires under there for my printer. So glad he is sleeping now and not unplugging anything.

Will is out to do a bit of shopping and I hope he can find that cheese spread you told me about in one of these stores Donna. He is also going to load some money on my debit card so I can order that glass , the glass , and a tiny set of pulling a sleigh with in it , plus two , and a couple of s come with it. They are hand carved of wood in the Erzebirge mountain region in Germany. is 2� inches in height and the tallest piece. The pieces are all hand painted and will look so cute with my That will be all I will order for this season for the houses. Next year I am sure I will find some more items to get. Probably get that tiny crystal snowman I ran across. He would be a cute addition and I can always hope he will be in the catalogue once again or I can find one elsewhere. I’d like to find one that is just an inch tall.

OK now Will is back and I can make my order ~ now I’m back after ordering and great ~ everything was in stock and I should receive all 3 items from different places within two weeks ~ plenty of time before we start decorating for Christmas. I am a very happy camper that all of what I ordered was in stock. Seems like they were all popular items. One catalogue had the little glass tree for $19.+ shipping and another had it for $198. plus shipping. You can guess which one I ordered. The spendy one had the star dipped in 24K gold. If I want that star gold I have some gold paint. The most expensive thing I ordered was the hand carved Santa set from Germany. If any of you get the catalogue Uno Alla Volta� (which means “one at a time”) it is on page 39 at the top of the page so you can take a “look see.” I hope I didn’t bore you with all this chatter.

JEAN We don't have a house phone. Will has a Droid and I have a Blackberry. This will be his 3rd Droid due to malfunctions and this last dropping of said phone. I have never had a bit of trouble with my Blackberry. How many points+ are those little Rice Crispy bites? I had no idea they made them but I don't go in grocerie stores either. That is a lot of bagging up of leaves ~ good thing Bob does it.

DONNA FAYE I am so sorry you are feeling under the weather. Hopefully you will feel back to exact soon. Scammers abound. We use debit cards when ordering on line or over the phone and change them often since the time my money was taken ~ the card co. paid me back and went after the person in a different country that stole the money. We try to just put the amount on that we want to spend and spend it quickly. Never do we use our "real" bank card for ordering anything because we don't want our account to be emptied out by scammers for it is for the regular type bills. We don't have any credit card debt. Cash is King. What a neat outfut your daughter has on. It looks like it will keep her nice and warm.

Have a wonderful and

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#17

QuilterInVA , 10-31-2012 03:38 PM

Good afternoon, ladies. 53 degrees today - cold!

We were fortunately blessed and didn't get anything but rain for 5 days and high winds. Not much but some flooding in the very low lying areas. It was just depressing really.

I'm really liking having my sewing room downstairs. I'm getting more done.
Tomorrow is First Thursday bee so that will be fun.

Faye, I think Kelly got it just right - what a hoot! I got pretzels to give the kids. That way i can enjoy any leftovers. I don't expect many. You can go on Amazon and look at Hungry Girl's new cookbook. If you get it from B&N, did you know if you order on line for store pick up you can save nearly $10.

Jean, I am famous for leaving my leftovers box on the table when we leave a restaurant. Makes me mad. At least you got yours home.

Maggie, I like those butter mints, too. I found Noni's 100-calorie biscotti on close out sale for $1.25 a box so I bought all 7 boxes. One of those and a cup of tea is lovely in the evening.

Have a wonderful evening.

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#18

Jean , 11-01-2012 10:03 AM

Good Morning and Happy November, Flowers! It's a hazy morning in my corner of the world, and the wind is blowing. I don't have to leave the house today so am hoping to get some boxes ready for the SOS store, Good Will, and consignment store. I always have good ideas in the morning!

Bob did his good deed for the day yesterday. He had some room in the pickup so took leaves from the neighbors on each side of us. On the one side (cat haters side) they were mostly leaves from our tree in the first place. The guy did come over and thank Bob for taking them. He spent most of the day working outside yesterday and he was tired last night!

Maggie -- A few cats ago, we had a cat named Maggie who liked to chew on cords. She never chewed clear through but almost all of our electric cords had her teeth marks. How fun to order your Christmas items for your village. I hope they all arrive in great shape.

Susan -- I was glad to see your post and know you are ok. Several rainy days in a row is depressing but after seeing the hurricane pictures on tv, I won't complain about rainy cloudy days (too much). I, too, have left my leftovers on the restaurant table. I took a biscotti, in the teachers' lounge, not knowing it would be hard. Boy was I surrpised!

I need to get dressed and get my day going. It's so easy to sit and work on Beth's afghan and watch the Today Show, after Bob leaves for the office. Have a terrific Thursday and enjoy!

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#19

Maggie , 11-01-2012 02:30 PM

Thankful Thursday

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

Rocktober is over with and this is the first of a new month. A good day to make a fresh beginning on my program and get my head into it to reach my goal. I have convinced myself that I can do it if I keep my head into it.

It is a nice day here in the ♥-Land and I am just lazing around. I have all the work done that I had planned for this day. Now a bit later I am going to make some jerky. Will picked up some more of that thin cut steak at the �used bin� yesterday so I will turn it into jerky. Will has been down to the computer~phone store to have his new phone programmed and they gave him the heads up on all the computer I-pads and mini I-pads that are going to be available at Christmas time and said the Apple is the very best of the bunch. Amazing what they can put into those little things and store stuff in outer space. A drop box in outer-space clears up space on a computer. I used to be quite computer literate but not anymore for they have gotten so much new �stuff� I have been left behind in my knowledge. He was telling me all about the mini like he was trying to convince me that I want one. I have an idea that he will probably get me one as a Christmas I am getting him a gun that he can use in the re-enactment programs he is involved with. He is slowly getting all the gear to look the part and studying up on his character of the Trail Boss.

Dinner this day will be an easy one for I crock~potted a roast he bought out of the �used meat� bin yesterday with a packet of dry onion soup over top of it. This evening I will make some gravy and we will have hot roast beef sandwiches using toasted sour dough bread. The roast was very lean but I still took the juice and put it into the fridge so any fat would come to the top and be easy to lift off. I will make gravy from the liquid that remains. After the holidays one day I will replace my broken little pitcher that poured the liquid from the bottom which made it so easy to skim the fat off. Sure made it easier but sticking it in the fridge is easy also so I haven�t been in a hurry to replace my pitcher. But when I really need that pitcher is when I want to use the liquid when it is still hot right out of the pot. For lunch I will microwave a dinner for me of some sort. I have to go and see what I have in the freezer. I haven�t been out to the kitchen yet this day. I ate one of those 1 p+ little Kellog�s� Rice Krispy ~ Crispy Marshmallow Squares ~ for breakfast with my coffee. They are so tasty and I can just eat one. I do need to boil some eggs to have them handy in the fridge. I will do that this day; make jerky and boil some eggs ~ sounds like a plan I can handle.

JEAN How nice for you to not have to leave the house on this windy day in your corner of the world. No wind yet here this day. I am so glad none of our animals chew on cords ~ they do unplug them though. When Beanie was a baby he liked to knaw on the bottom rung of a TV tray I use in the front room. That is the only thing he chose to knaw on so I let him for he didn't ruin any of the furniture that way ~ just that bottm rung of a wooden stand. The cat did like to get in the large pots the trees are in and disloge some of the moss in them so we put little rocks in the pots and he now stays out of them. Have fun with your sorting and pitching this day.

SUSAN That was certainly a good buy on those boxes of biscotti. What flavor are they? Have you ever baked your own? I have several recipes for them and they are all so yummy. Freeze well also. This time of the year I like to make the Cranberry ones, which is a WW recipe, and they are 1 P+ each. If you want the recipe I can type it out for you for they aren't difficult to make. These you can make a month ahead of the holidays. Since we have "guests" around these holidays it is nice to have a varity of biscotti on hand to serve with coffee or tea. I have a recipe for double chocolate ones that are 3P+ each. Most of the recipes are in the 3P+ range with one that is 5P+ and one that is 2P+. I make the 1P+ ones the most often.

Time for me now to go get some lunch. Type at y'all later.

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#20

gma22 , 11-02-2012 08:51 AM

Good morning girls. It is around 50 degrees at the moment but should warm into the 60's today. I have the boob squisher appt this morning so will be leaving here in about 40 minutes or so. I want to get in and out and get my errands done this morning.

I am finally almost done with Jackson's sock. I am knitting off the toe and then I can wash and block them. I may wait to wash them until I have Thomas's done too and do them both at the same time. I put my socks on the needles just to see what they would look like, but I don't like the bigger needle so will just wait until Thomas's socks are done.

Quick breakfast of crackers and pb this morning. I am going to take a banana with me too. I just have to be careful about eating in the morning since that is when I have the most trouble.

As soon as those stupid slippers get here, I will have all of Jackson's Christmas bought and can UGH, wrap them. One of these days I am going to fly Jean down here just to wrap my Christmas presents! You would think that with me being "crafty" so to speak I would love wrapping presents but I hate it so much. If I thought Jack wouldn't completely goof them up, I would get him to do it!

Maggie: Are you getting in the Christmas mood? All your little emoticons all about Christmas! We got rid of our house phone two years ago and don't regret it a bit. We don't have the best service in our area, but we deal with it and most of the times it isn't a problem. It saved us about $60 month for local calls alone and since we pay nothing for long distance, would have saved a whopping amount for it.

Jean: It is the one thing about the cell phones I wish they had was being able to block numbers of people you don't want to talk to. We need to tackle our leaves, but we still have quite a bit on our tree and would like to only have to do it once. I think biscotti looks like the zweiback things we used to buy for our babies. I am not a coffee drinker so I don't eat them. I think they are specifically made to dunk in coffee and that's why they are made so hard as I think they are double baked.

Susan: Glad you survived that terrible storm intact. I think pretzels packs are a great idea for Halloween. You then don't waste anything by throwing it away so you don't eat it and pretzels are always a great snack I think.

Well girls, it is getting close to time to leave to go get my mammogram. Hope you all have a lovely weekend. We are shampooing carpets again this weekend and I am going to try and catch up on cleaning chores as I hope I feel better than I have been. I get so tired of feeling crummy and not being able to do anything about it. Faye

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#21

Maggie , 11-02-2012 12:10 PM

Finally Friendly Friday

GOOD MORNING MAGNOLIAS

It is a tad bit chilly this morning in the 40�s and not expected to rise above 60�s this day. Right now I am waking up with my coffee and a piece of sourdough toast with a skiff of sf Smucker’s� sugar free seedless strawberry jam sweetened with Splenda�. All delivered to me here in my office. Life is good. When I finish this post I am going to go get that jerky started in the dehydrator after I have soaked it in the marinade for half hour. I have some beef ribs that I need to spice up and cook in my indoor smoker for dinner this day. The dogs will love those bones to gnaw on. I’ll open a can of baked beans and jazz them up with some stir fried chopped onions and bell peppers to go with them and toss a green salad. I have a neat non stick fry pan that enables me to stir fry without any fat which is helpful to my program. That’s the plan and I’m sticking to it.

Not much happening in this part of the world this second day of November. I do need to clean off the top of my desk once again for it is past time to tear old October’s calendar off the pad and I can’t do that with “stuff” scattered all over it. Necessary, needful “stuff” you understand. I do need to forward some of the notes I have on it for things happening in this month and in December. It is also a good time to clean out my desk drawer also for there are mysteries hiding in there. Since it is what is called a writing desk it only has the one long drawer which is 3� X 29� and as deep as the desk. I like the desk for it is nice and wide. Will is off now to run some errands and will bring me back a sf ff vanilla latte. I have this “homemade” coffee to sip on till he gets back.

DONNA FAYE Yep we got rid of a house phone many years ago also. No need for one and talking on a cell is much more cost effective. Most of my phone calls are for out of state and I love that they don't cost anymore than a local call. Hopefully you can get your system to working better to not have that pain so much. Those cookies are great to dip in hot tea also. Much better tasting than baby crackers.

Well Magnolias it is time for me to get started on that meat that is calling my name to processed into jerky.

PS: Will came in from doing some more errands and handed me the new Hungry Girl book To The Max so I will be looking through it tonight.

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#22

Jean , 11-02-2012 06:00 PM

Good Afternoon, Flowers! It's a cloudy windy day in my neighborhood, with a wind chill of 37 degrees. I got a perm this morning, first thing at 8:00. I had a really hard time staying awake because I tossed 'n turned all night. Finally got up about 2 and finished my book, then couldn't settle down when I went back to bed. I hate nights like that but glad they are few and far between! I returned library books and stopped at the grocery store for a few things.

Maggie -- I don't know anything about the new mini iPad, but I do enjoy my bigger one. Bob likes to look up things/people we see on tv as they happen. I keep telling him he needs one of his own. Beth won a Nook at work and it seems to be very similar to my iPad. She is still learning and I know I don't use, or know, all the features on mine. My computer desk always seems to have a pile of something; I make copies of my gift shop paperwork and am lax at getting them in the 3 ring notebooks.

"Gma" -- I hope all went well with your mammogram. A good thing to have done. I need to get my driver's license renewed next week before I forget. We still have our house phone. For a very long time Bob had the only cell phone and just the office, myself, and his farmer friend had the number. He left it in his truck most of the time unless he was expecting a call. He doesn't like lots of people having his number even now. I text more than I talk so am usually surprised when I get a phone call. We need to shampoo rugs but will wait until closer to Christmas. I plan to get new when we finally recarpet the bedrooms. I am really slow at getting them cleaned out . . . too much junk to sort through, and not my favorite task.

Bob just came home so I need to get going on supper of some sort. Enjoy the rest of your day and evening.

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#23

Jean , 11-03-2012 10:44 AM

Good Morning, Flowers! The sun is shining, wind is blowing, and it's 34 degrees in my corner of the world this morning. Bob just left to make his morning rounds, and I have laundry rounded up to take downstairs. Tomorrow is our All Saints Day at church where we light memorial candles for each church member who died in the past year. We are playing bells tomorrow, and sometime today I need to get a bell out for the service tonight. The minister reads the name, we light the candle, and someone rings the bell. Bob and I will light them for first service and I need to find someone to ring the bell. This should be my last year on the Memorial Committee.

I need to get moving and accomplish a few things this morning. Have a super Saturday and enjoy!

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#24

Maggie , 11-03-2012 04:39 PM

Saturday

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

Don�t forget to set your clocks back tonight. It is later than we used to do it in Rocktober.

My batch of jerky turned out better this time using both the marinade and smoke flavor both the same ~ mesquite. Dry but pliable just like it is supposed to be. I had so many pieces I had to dry them in two batches so the second batch is drying as I type. We went out to lunch with friends at our favorite Mexican restaurant and I stuck to what I can count. I plan on just having something very light this evening.

I am having so much fun going through my new Hungry Girl cook book and putting stickum points on pages where there is a recipe I want to try. Gracious sakes there are so many things in it I want to make in that book ~ which is a good thing though. I am up to the Chinese section and am anxious to see what recipes she has in that category. I will probably just want to cook that whole section. I have been figuring out the points plus for each of the recipes I have marked to try.

I just swatted my third fly. They love coming in the house when it is cool outside and we will probably get a lot of them after tonight. I�m good with the swatter though. We got one of those sticky things and hung it up and not a fly went near it so we swat them the old fashioned way.

JEAN How many deaths have there been this past year that were members of your church? Sounds like quite a send off ceremony you have there.

Have a great Saturday Magnolias. I am off to look at recipes in my new required cook book.

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#25

QuilterInVA , 11-03-2012 08:39 PM

Don't really have time to post tonight but I wanted to tell Maggie that Hungry Girl to the Max PP are on her website for every recipe.

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#26

gma22 , 11-04-2012 10:41 AM

Good morning ladies. We have been busy early. We vacuumed then shampooed the rugs and I am going to mop floors a little later after we put the dining room stuff back. I am getting caught back up again. I have just been having a rough time since I finished me the meds.

I finished Jackson's socks and have started Thomas's so need to get hopping on them so I can finish and wash and block them. They have to be ready by the first of Dec.

Yesterday was all day college football. I don't mind as I was reading a book and knitting so kept myself busy.

Jean: The mammogram went fine and I didn't even have to wait very long. I did have one position that pinched pretty good, but not enough to really be in pain. My chest was all red when I finished though. I then ran out to Walmart and got some groceries we needed like bread and more soda and I bought my monthly airwicks. Walmart has a triple package and saves me money and they have cinnamon apple, which I like. You know, I bet you could download books to your Ipad. Check out bookbub.com, you can get free ones in the style you like to read, ie, humor, mystery, romance, etc. I have 80 free books from them on my kindle. Have you ever watched the tv show Castle? It is a cute show and I really like it. He is a mystery writer that follows a homicide female detective around for research and is always getting involved in the homicide. He is really rich and he plays poker with famous people all the time. On one of the episodes he had Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Steven J Cannell as poker pals. I guess one of the several mystery writers that have been on the show as his poker players actually wrote the books that the character writes on the show. I downloaded the first one from Amazon and it was pretty darn good. I enjoyed it and will probably order the rest of them.

Maggie: Have you ever made jerky for the doggies??? I bet they would love it and it has to be good for their teeth. This part of the country has a huge problem with roaches. I am forever spraying for the darn things. During the hot summer I will let Fortune out after dark and when I turn on the back porch light you see them all scatter under our deck. It is disgusting, but not much you can do about it. I just spray every week or so to try and keep them at bay the best way I can.

Susan: Hope you are doing fine!

Well gals, I want to get some work done. You all have a wonderful day today. Faye

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#27

QuilterInVA , 11-04-2012 11:09 AM

Good morning, ladies! Overcast now but rain in the forecast.

I've been working a lot of overtime then going to the Y and sitting the rest of the evening. Another busy week coming up. I'm going to be putting together my Christmas ribbons quilt this afternoon.

Faye, I don't think I could have put up with your female problems this long. I hope you get straightened out soon. It doesn't seem anything they have done thus far has helped in the least. You are a knitting diva. I think I'll get back onto my socks this week.

I was looking for some new jeans. Being cheap, I checked Walmart and Kmart. Kmart had Chic jeans on sale for $16 but I didn't want to pay that much and I realy wanted petites so I didn't have to hem them. I decided to go to Rose's since I often get Lee jeans there for $7. They had the same Chic jeans for $5 so I got 2 pair and 2 pair of fleece pants for $5 each. I found a cosy bed for Casper for $5. He jumped right in and went to sleep. I should go back and get another so he has one upstairs and down.

I have my pay-as-you-go cell phone that I put $100 a year on and that lasts me with some left over. I also have my landline and it is $19 a month with unlimited long-distance.

Jean, I'd love to hear you play the bells. It must be so beautiful. I love my Kindle Fire. You can get free books on your IPAD. You need to download a free app from Amazon.com or BN.com first and then you can get free books from bookbub.com. I have well over 100 I've gotten free from them.

Maggie, I have so many stickies marking recipes in HG to the Max. This is her best one so far. Your village will certainly be all ticked out for Christmas. I'd like to have your biscotti recipe.

Have a wonderful day.

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#28

Jean , 11-04-2012 11:51 AM

Good Morning, Flowers! I was awake at my "old" time and finally got up knowing I needed to be at church early. I'll probably be ready for a nap this afternonn. Bells were "awesome" according to a few comments after the service. There was no sermon today since it was communion and the memorial service. The kids are having a spaghetti dinner at noon but think we will skip that.

Maggie -- I have noticed more flies lately. Ernie found a bug crawling across the floor yesterday. I finally stepped on it because I didn't want it to find a new home somewhere in the house. We lit 31 member candles, then one extra for all extended family and friends, and another for all military lives lost this year.

"Gma" -- We had football on most of yesterday afternoon and into the evening. I ignore it for the most part, except if there is a chance I can get a glimpse of the half time band. That hardly ever happens. I found Bloodline by Dick Francis on the librarys new book table the other day. I just got started but so far I like it. I remembered that you had mentioned him but didn't remember the book title you were reading.

Susan -- There is a lady at church who is making quilts out of men's ties. Bob donated several to her and I'm anxious to see the finished quilt. You got a good deal on jeans! I need new jeans and hate to even look, let alone try them on. I ordered some from Kohl's, with free shipping. They were too big so returned them to the store in Sioux City. They deducted some from each pair because I had used the free shipping so I didn't get all of my money back. I won't do that again! I have looked at books for the iPad but have to share it with Bob so never really have time to read a whole book like I would like to.

Bob is wondering if there is any interest in another cup of coffee. Guess I will change clothes and finish reading the Sunday paper. Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday!

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#29

Maggie , 11-04-2012 05:05 PM

Simply Sunny Sunday

GOOD AFTERNOON MAGNOLIAS

It is a lovely 70� day here in the ♥-Land. We had pot-luck for lunch after church services and I filled ⅔ of my plate with a mix of strawberries, blueberries, & blackberries, took the skin of a piece of chicken breast and had a meatball. I didn’t eat any of the oo-ie goo-ie good looking stuff on the tables. Nor did I hit the dessert table. I think I deserve a pat on the back for that success. I am sure that was a mix that came from Schwans� for I have some in my freezer. They are just the frozen whole fruit ~ nothing added. Not much happening around here this slow day. We did remember to set our clocks last night and my computer set itself.

JEAN I also woke up early and will have to get used to the time change. That is a lot of candles for sure for those who have pass away. What a nice thing to light candles for friends and the military. We didn't have our TV on all day yesterday. We never have it on until after dinner and were both busy in our offices that we never went out there to veg out in front of it. Sure was nice to have it off for an evening.

SUSAN I e-mailed that biscotti recipe to you assuming you wanted the WW one since you didn't specify. If you want any of the other biscotti recipes I have let me know and I will get them to you. I like having a variety of different kinds during this holiday season. Clothes sure have taken a leap in price and I do need some jeans. However, I am waiting until Valentines Day rolls around to get any new outer clothing items. It is going to be real fun decorating that village this year. Hopefully by next year we will have located a little train that will work with it. I would love to have it this year though . . . I imagine your Christmas ribbon quilt will be absolutely lovely. Good to keep busy isn't it.

DONNA FAYE I know you will be happy to get those sox blocked and on their way to happy feet. Yes, I have made doggie jerky and the dogs love it. I have also made doggie bones but the dollar store has their treats on sale that are made here in the US of A and their prices are low so we have been buying them from there. We don't trust the treats made outside of this country. They love those little doggie bone shaped biscuits wrapped with dried strips of turkey meat and are 1 inch wide and 1 and a half inch long. Little things just right for the two of them.

Have a wonderful Sunday Afternoon/Evening Magnolias.

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#30

gma22 , 11-05-2012 10:51 AM

Good morning to everyone. It is chilly this morning and we are supposed to get a bunch of rain, but nothing so far. I hate it when it is so gray out.

I have 3 1/2 weeks to finish Thomas's socks so I have to really get to them since he now wears men's sizes. I need to go through my stash and see what else I have. My dd put a link on FB for a charity called socks for smiles. This little 11 year old foster girl set it up for foster kids to get bright colorful socks, either made or bought. She said she only ever had white socks when she was in foster care and when she was adopted she never wore anything but colorful socks so wanted kids in foster care to have colorful socks too. Kelly sent money to her to buy socks, but if I have some stash I may just knit a couple of pair of kids socks.

Susan: I am pretty fed up with this, but I have an appt in Dec with the gyn and I am going to talk to her about it as I don't know how much more I want to put up with this. You got real bargains for jeans. I take it this is a store similar to big lots or something where you can get real deals. Your quilt sounds like it will be lovely.

Maggie: Fortune loves his treats. I do give him teeth cleaning treats everyday to make sure he has no nasty build up on his teeth since he is on soft food.

Jean: I actually didn't like Bloodline. I don't want to give away why but this book is not one of the best. This was written by his son as he passed away a year or so ago and was like 90 years old and wrote clear up to his death. Pick Dick Francis early books. A couple of my favorites are Shattered and High Stakes. He wrote dozens of books and the nice thing is they aren't series books so you can read any of them without having to read them in order. I have read everyone of his books and this last one is the only book out of all of them I didn't like at all.

Well, I have laundry to fold soon, dishwasher to unload as soon as it is done and upstairs bathrooms to clean today. Guess I better get a move on! Faye

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