It is a beautiful day in the high 60˚s here in the ♥-Land and I feel great. Spring is in the air.
There was a neat advertisement for Seasoned Rice Vinegar in the new WW magazine that caught my attention. Here is what it said about it: “Try Nakano® Seasoned Rice Vinegar and give any dish a healthy, flavor-filled boost. Marinade chicken, pork or beef before grilling for sizzling summer flavor. Or splash it on salads, veggies, potatoes, sandwiches, pasta and more for a great taste.” It comes in Natural, Original, and Roasted Garlic and I bought all three and am anxious to try them. They have no fat and are gluten free. We do a lot of outdoor cooking in the nice weather especially when living in a MH so these will probably be a staple in my cupboard.
Not much going on this day except the regular Sunday things we do. Hope all is well with all you Magnolias out there.
Good Afternoon! The sun has been in and out all day; with the wind it looks warmer than it feels. We made a quick trip up to the cabin -- ice is still on the lake although there is some open water around the shoreline. It's still "quiet" up there and no signs of shops or restaurants opening any time soon. Another month will make a big difference providing the weather warms up. We stopped on the way to buy grass seed, fertilizer, and lime for the yard. We hardly ever sit on the deck but I always like to look at the furniture. We have toyed with the idea of a three season room but I'm afraid it would make my kitchen/tv area dark.
Maggie -- I like grapes but if they are in anything Bob always looks to see if they are peeled! I have a couple recipes that use rice vinegar. I should see if I can find them; not sure but think they are salads. My "mom" uses it on lettuce I think. Let us know how you like the different flavors.
Not much else newsy from my corner of the world. Enjoy the rest of your day and evening!
Good morning to you gals. Jack and I ended up having slight colds all weekend and just lolled around doing nothing. I never realized I didn't even come in here all weekend. All I did was blow my nose all the time. I had a scratchy throat mostly and drank my sore throat drink and it went away after about a day. Jack always takes Nyquil and it knocks it right out of him pretty quickly too. I can't stand the stuff. I think it tastes like liquor and I don't take the gels either as I don't like how they make me feel. I never got congested, but when I do, I always take Mucinex and it seems to work well for me.
Today is downstairs cleaning day. I got the upstairs done on Saturday, but just felt too crummy to do anything yesterday. We had easy foods over the weekend so I am not even going to bother to weigh in as I am sure I will have gained some.
Jean: We have had nice temps for the most part though it was cooler yesterday and only supposed to get into higher 50's for today. We have had a lot of rain though and everything is soggy. Rice wine vinegar is nice in Asian salads I think. I doubt Bob eats many salads with grapes in them, huh? I don't know of anyone who will stand and peel grapes to put into a salad or something.
Maggie: Jack is deciding which suit he is going to take on the cruise and it and his tux will have to go to the cleaners along with his shirts. The cleaners last year flattened his tuxedo shirt collar instead of pressing it with the points up so I told him he will have to specify this year to make sure he gets it the way he wants it. Let us know what you think of the vinegars.
Everyone have a good start to the week. Jack isn't up quite yet as he has one last oji dr appt so that they can release him to full duty. Faye
This is my weigh day and I didn’t do so good and am going to have to rethink what I need to do about it. Time to take better charge of my eating and tracking and such. Eating at home more and not going out to eat so much will definitely help.
It is raining and I am so happy to see it. We just picked up the dogs from the groomer and they smell and look so good from their hair cuts and bath. Cecil is happy to see his buddies once again also.
We saw the neatest new Case International tractor today ~ nothing like the kind my grand-father had or what Will drove as a young man. Cost is just about a million and has tracks instead of wheels. Gracious sakes it can go for miles and miles before it turns around. I don’t imagine in your soft dirt there in your state, Jean, that they use these kind. Or maybe they do, I don’t know.
DONNA FAYE There are so many over the counter things that folks can take for a cold now days. I prefer Cold-Eeze for it works best for me. Hope you are back to exact now.
JEAN I am anxious to give my new Rice Vinegars a try on the different ways they suggest using them. I have used rice vinegar on Panini sandwiches before and it is yummy that way. But never had any of these kind with seasonings in them and am going to make some this week and give the Roasted Garlic one a try.
Good Afternoon! The sun is out and it would be warm if the breeze wasn't blowing. I just got home from a long P.E.O. meeting -- too long! Church money balanced this morning as did the gift shop money. I've changed into my comfy jeans and am parked in front of the tv. Bob just left for practice at church so I won't be seeing him for a couple hours. His group sings for the Maunday Thursday service at church.
"Gma" -- Hope both you and Jack are back to 100% soon! I think NyQuil tastes like licorice. I'd rather take the capsules than the liquid. If Bob happens to get a grape when we are in public, or at someone else's house, he will be polite and choke them down. I can tell they give him the shivers.
Maggie -- It rained a bit this morning on my way into town, enough to use the wipers. It was dry when I got to church. Several farmers use the track tractors around here. There must be some advantage, or maybe just a new fad. Some farmers just lease their equipment and get new every year.
Not much else newsy from here. Hope you all enjoy your evening. It will be basketball on tv here.
Good Afternoon! The sun is shining again today; it would truly be a nicer day if the wind would quit blowing! I've been to WM twice today. *groan* I bought a new iPad cover and it didn't fit. It wasn't an Apple brand so maybe that's why. When I took it back the nice lady in customer service said they had had a lot of them returned. She put the credit back on my debit card which is a first for me. Have done some laundry and should vacuum, but the "boys" are napping and I don't want to wake them. Bob put the live trap out again last night hoping to catch another possum. Instead we caught the "little kitty" and she was one unhappy cat! He let her go and I said she'll never go near the trap again. She took off like a bullet across the yard. A little while later she was back for breakfast -- probably eating for 5! Hope you all are having a sunny nice day!
Good morning to you all. Again I thought I had come in here and posted and nada so guess I didn't.
Jack went and paid for his snorkeling lesson so he is all set for that. He is going to go a week from Saturday. It is a 2 hour lesson so I hope he comes away confident and comfortable ready to go snorkeling in Sept.
I sat and paid some bills this AM and need to sweep and mop the downstairs today. They kept calling for rain so I held off, but we never did get rain.
We went to Thomas's spring concert. This will be the last one he does in Jr High School. He moves into what is called AP band come the fall when he goes to high school. I don't know how you can be in an advanced band, but there you go. Here is the boy playing last night. He is in jazz band, ensemble band, concert band, 8th grand band. He played a solo in the jazz band last night and did a great job. Notice how he is chatting up the gal trumpet player. He is a real ladies man!
Jean: I would imagine the kitty will steer clear of the trap from now on, which I guess is a good thing. I haven't seen our pesky squirrel this year. Our trees are still bare so maybe he has moved on to better territory. We can only hope. Looks like someone has moved into the condo next door so maybe all the racket they were making was their remodeling of their own home. I just hope it is someone who behaves themselves for once.
Well gals need to get the day going. Have a good start to the week. Faye
Good Morning! The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and the weatherman says we will have 80 degrees this afternoon. It was 32 when I came downstairs this morning, not sure if I believe him or not. I have lunch bunch this noon, and the last bell practice, until fall, later this afternoon. We play first service on Sunday, and imo need lots of practice before then! Tomorrow I start my day with the dentist, have a hospital auxiliary board meeting, and then head to Sioux City to finish some birthday shopping and then two soccer games.
"Gma" -- My one and only black squirrel has been busy making the back yard rounds this morning. It's almost like he's checking to see who might have the best food offering. We are the only ones who put out food in our neighboring yards. He's a scrappy little guy when the other brown squirrels show up. He doesn't share very well! I enjoyed seeing the band pictures on FB, and thought Thomas liked that he sits next to a girl. He is so grown up! I hope your new neighbors are quiet if nothing else.
I need to sort through the paper clutter before I leave later. It seems to multiply when I'm not looking! Hope you all enjoy a wonderful Wednesday today!
95˚ at the time and temperature sign when we were out and about today. WOW we jumped right in to the high temps looks like the whole week is going to be like this slowly getting cooler each day.
While out and about we stopped by Wall*Mart and got another Dutch Oven in the size of 12” 6 qt size. We have the 12” deep one which holds 8 qts. When cooking in them we don’t fill them to the top and the 12” regular one is for bread items and the deep one is for soups and stews, beans and whole chickens and such. We also have an 8” one and e only other one we want now is the 10” one which holds 4 quarts. Having the 8” 2 qt., 10” 4qt, 12” 6qt, and 12” deep 8 qt ones will be quite enough for the two of us to have some well cooked outside meals. We won’t need the much larger ones that Lodge makes. Anything you can cook in your house oven can be cooked in a Dutch Oven outside with a few coals on the bottom and a few coals on top. Since they have legs you can even have them all in a stack with those top coals being the bottom coals for the one on top of it. I also got two new cast iron cook books that will be fun to go through.
JEAN I hope your lunch was good with your "lunch bunch." I wasn't much hungry today and the dogs shared half of my sandwich which was turkey and Swiss cheese. You are welcome to some of our heat. I love to share.
DONNA FAYE Your grandson is certainly a charming young man. Thanks for sharing that cute picture.
Good morning to you all. Well they did it again. I went to my bank account like I do every morning and there sits a charge for $85 to Toys R Us or Babies Rus. She said they just keyed in the number, which means they hacked it online, which means more than likely they don't require that you put in your CVV number from the back of your card. So, they canceled my card again and overnighted me another one so I should have it tomorrow. Navy Federal is great about jumping on it right away. They even give you the money back right away without waiting for the authorization to clear. It is called a provisional credit and if the charge falls off, they just take the money back and if it goes through then the credit becomes permanent.
I am going to dust upstairs, doing a load of laundry then will drag it upstairs and put it away today. That's my chores for the day except for dishes. I plan on working on my wrap today as I am way behind getting it done for the cruise.
I ordered some cute earrings for the cruise yesterday. I got these cute bees with little peridot colored eyes, brown alligators, red lady bugs, brown and copper colored acorns and some cute pink and peach flowered earrings to go with a bead scarf I bought. I bought the head pins to finish the scarf, but thought they would come with the kit and they didn't so had to order them. If you have never seen a bead scarf, it is a scarf to wear around your neck but the bottom tips of the scarf have a metal end cap and you attach a line of beads to each one. Sort of my own chandelier of sorts. I bought a coral scarf and white and silver bead combo to put on each end. I had bought an open backed bangle bracelet for beads too and then bought a set of colored aluminum beads all different colors to go on it. It came with stoppers so the beads don't slide back and forth. I tend to forget to get stoppers when I order beads for a bracelet. I am pretty much done with that as I have every color imaginable now and a few besides like my holiday bracelet and my Harry Potter bracelet.
Jean: Are your trees still bare? I noticed my azaleas have bloomed, but my tree is bare of leaves still except for a couple branches with teeny tiny starts on them. We get an awful lot of junk mail and I get catalogues almost every day. Once you order something, if they have catalogues you are sure to get one. I get the blasted Fingerhut catalogue all the time and the thing is huge. I never have used that company so they got my name from someone else for sure.
Maggie: Boy sure wish I lived in Kansas. I think I would come to your yard sale once you start selling off your bigger stuff. Thomas is a charmer for sure. He is such a sweet natured kid, but he has an ornery side with his wit and a bit of naughtiness when it comes to bugging his mother. Poor woman has to contend with both he and his father and they kind of gang up on her with teasing, which she just can't stand.
Well girls, the machine has turned off so need to put the load in the dryer and get some breakfast. Have a great day all. Faye
It is another nice day here in the ♥-Land in the higher numbers again which suits me just fine. There are buds on both of the apple trees and looks like a lot of apples will come but we won’t be here to harvest them.
Will is at the museum today and when he gets home we will go for our ride about the area. I am here on my computer and sipping my morning coffee and think I have good sense. I saw the cutest wind chime to hang on the awning of our MH which is a KOI fish made of porcelain which would make a nice mellow tinkling sound. I think I “need” to buy it.
I have been having fun figuring the points+ values of the recipes that came with the Dutch Oven and figuring how to lighten some of them that sound yummy. I can use any of my WW recipes that are to be cooked in the oven in them for sure. Before we went out and about in our last MH I made myself a little 4” x 6˝” spiral bound booklet that has 23 of our favorite recipes in it with pages to add more. The recipes contain breads, main meals, veggies and deserts. It will be critical to plan menus ahead when we live in the MH because of the freezer and fridge space. I am spoiled here in the house with two large upright freezers and a double door fridge. I can adapt.
The animals sure like these warmer days for they are all out back snoozing. What a life ~ lazing in the sun. I remember lazing in the sun on the sand at the beach when I was young. It was so cool living in CA just two blocks from the beach.
I need to finish here and do some housework this day. Just the regular stuff that comes around all the time begging to be swept or vacuumed or dusted. Life is good.
DONNA FAYE You sure have the jewelry to go with anything and everything. What fun to coordinate it with outfits on a cruise. We will be having a huge yard sale but our friend from Texas called and wants to buy all of Will's tools and he has a lot of them. What I think is that he has plans for Will to build him something when we go there and he will have the tools to do the job with. We can load all those tools in our trailer we got awhile back and take it to the ranch and leave it there. He can probably use it on the ranch some. They also want our large oak dining room table and chairs so he can use the trailer and come get that. I am going to give them the hand crochet table cloth I have for it. It would be nice if someone wanted to buy all my glass works but I won't know if it will sell until I put it out in a yard sale.
Good Afternoon! The sun is shining, just a teeny breeze, and a beautiful day in my neighborhood. Maybe spring really has arrived! Been to the dentist -- a half hour check/cleaning/new toothbrush, and $92 please. Spent a little over an hour at the auxiliary board meeting. Among other business, the cat hating neighbor husband rounded the $490 memorials sent in his wife's name to $6000 for nursing scholarships! That is what she was in charge of for the auxiliary. We are hosting a volunteer workshop for NW Iowa in June, so will be working on that soon. Stopped to look for black polyester fabric for a new bell table cover; bought a piece but know it won't be big/long enough. I'm hoping we can cobble the rest together and get by for Sunday. Next on my agenda is to do some quick shopping in Sioux City and finish the day with two soccer games. Tomorrow is a much needed perm.
Maggie -- Wow! 95 is way TOO hot too soon. Thank you, but you don't have to share. I have both sliding doors open so each cat has his own space. Sonny lays across the track just in case I might want to close the door. The squirrels and birds seem to know he is harmless.
"Gma" -- It's good you check your online banking every day. I worry about using my debit card away from home. I rarely do but always cross my fingers and hope for the best. You are going to be one stylish lady on the cruise! No leaf buds on the trees yet. The daffodils are pushing through the dirt though. Bob said there are farmers in the fields today.
I need to change clothes and be ready to leave when Bob gets home. Hope you all have a terrific Thursday and enjoy!
Good afternoon gals. I was up and out this morning as I took Jack to work and came home and cleaned up, had breakfast then out to get my nails done and run errands. I had a couple of things to get at Walmart, then off to get the car washed, then to the post office, picked up a chicken sandwich at Wendys and came home and unloaded and put stuff away and had lunch.
I have to leave in about an hour to go out and get Jack from work so have been running around almost all day today.
I got my new bank card today so now I can use it again. Luckily, I could keep the same pin so I don't have to think something up again that I can remember.
Jean: How'd things go in Sioux City? Did the kids win their games? I am wondering if Jackson will get involved in sports. He hasn't gotten into anything so far and should be able to go into Cub Scouts in about 6 months I think if he wants to. I know they lowered the age a bit and he will be 7 in June. I don't know whether he would like it or not. They are on vacation in the Smokey mountains this week as it was his spring break. Hope you can find something to rig your tablecloth together for your bells. Do you all quit playing over the summer months?
Maggie: I am sure all your glass work will be snapped right up when you sell it. It has to be a little sad to let things like that go. I am sure the animals are enjoying the warm weather. I know I am. I wore capris and sandals today and opened up the sunroof and the windows and cruised around town doing my errands.
Well gals, I need to go and work on my grocery list. It is commissary time again. I get so tired of trying to think of stuff to eat. Have a great weekend. Faye
Good Afternoon! The sun has been shining brightly all day and it's been another nice day in my neighborhood, at least weather wise. I started my day with a perm, and glad that's done for another three months. We received some shocking news today. My friend from Bob's hometown called and her husband has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer in a brain tumor. The good (?) news is that it is operable. He was in Bob's class and and she was a year behind them as well as Bob's neighbor growing up. I've known them almost as long as I've known Bob. Talk about scary! They are waiting for an appointment in Omaha with a specialist.
"Gma" -- You have been a busy gal today! You got good service on your bank card! Maddy's team had a shut out game last night. I don't think the other team had practiced much. When they switched goal sides after the half, the other team kept kicking the ball towards their own goalie. Kolby's team lost with no score. They've only had one practice because of the weather. He was bummed. The problem, as I observed, is that when the boys aren't on the field they are screwing around rather than paying attention to the game. We don't play bells during the summer although we have played for a wedding and a funeral several years ago. We were asked to do a winter wedding in another church, out of town, and turned that one down. To haul the tables, foam pads, table clothes, music books, fix-it case, and multiple bell cases is no small fete. Kolby just joined Scouts and has really enjoyed it. Ian does too. Maddy is in Girl Scouts and told Beth she doesn't want to join next year because "the girls are getting mean, catty, and cliquy." That sounds like junior high, and she's in 4th grade!
I need to think about something for supper although nothing sounds very inviting right now. Enjoy your evening!
It is another wonderful day here in the ♥-Land. Sunny an warm with just a breeze gently blowing. What a beautiful day to get out and about.
Since the wind isn’t blowing we hired a collage student we know to pick up the trash that the wind has deposited in our backyard and around the outside of our chain link fence. He is welcome to keep any paper money bills he finds. I have found a $10 bill out there. Thanks to the wind. He will come back anytime the wind decides to give him some more pick up work.
We went out to the range this afternoon and shot some for practice. Good too keep in practice. I got to try out my newly acquired ear muff looking ear protectors. They are designed to where you can hear people talking but block most of the sound out the bullets make leaving the gun. It’s said they work much better than those little things you stuff in your ears which I have used for years and “they” are right for I love them.
Will ordered the 10” 4qt Camp Dutch Oven by Lodge from the Wal*Mart distribution center to be delivered to this local store since they don’t carry anything but the 12” one locally. It should be here by next Wednesday “they say” and then we can go pick it up locally. Sure saves shipping charges if we had ordered it direct from Lodge ~ plus we are getting it from Wal*Mart for $20 less. If we ordered it direct from the company it would cost more plus we would have to pay shipping. Wal*Mart can lower the price because they buy in such a great volume at one time.
DONNA FATE I am planning on keeping a few of my glass houses and find a place to sit them secured on a shelf. The ones I want to keep are the church building, 3 story white with blue roof one, the barn, out house & little gazebo. I will sell off (or give away) all the rest of the buildings. Who knows, Will may make the shelf long enough for most or all of the buildings in the village.
JEAN Kids are a hoot in those games. When my nephew was in the outfield he was picking daisy's but when a ball came his way he was right on it.
Sunny Beautiful Sunday
I have a couple recipes that use rice vinegar. I should see if I can find them; not sure but think they are salads. My "mom" uses it on lettuce I think. Let us know how you like the different flavors.
Hope you are back to exact now.
Several farmers use the track tractors around here. There must be some advantage, or maybe just a new fad. Some farmers just lease their equipment and get new every year. 
We will be having a huge yard sale but our friend from Texas called and wants to buy all of Will's tools and he has a lot of them. What I think is that he has plans for Will to build him something when we go there and he will have the tools to do the job with. We can load all those tools in our trailer we got awhile back and take it to the ranch and leave it there. He can probably use it on the ranch some. They also want our large oak dining room table and chairs so he can use the trailer and come get that. I am going to give them the hand crochet table cloth I have for it. It would be nice if someone wanted to buy all my glass works but I won't know if it will sell until I put it out in a yard sale. 
You got good service on your bank card! 
Maddy's team had a shut out game last night. I don't think the other team had practiced much. When they switched goal sides after the half, the other team kept kicking the ball towards their own goalie. Kolby's team lost with no score. They've only had one practice because of the weather. He was bummed. The problem, as I observed, is that when the boys aren't on the field they are screwing around rather than paying attention to the game. We don't play bells during the summer although we have played for a wedding and a funeral several years ago. We were asked to do a winter wedding in another church, out of town, and turned that one down. To haul the tables, foam pads, table clothes, music books, fix-it case, and multiple bell cases is no small fete. Kolby just joined Scouts and has really enjoyed it. Ian does too. Maddy is in Girl Scouts and told Beth she doesn't want to join next year because "the girls are getting mean, catty, and cliquy." That sounds like junior high, and she's in 4th grade! 
I got to try out my newly acquired ear muff looking ear protectors. They are designed to where you can hear people talking but block most of the sound out the bullets make leaving the gun. It’s said they work much better than those little things you stuff in your ears which I have used for years and “they” are right for I love them. 