I like Thursdays Oct 31

Greetings!

Hope ya'll are having a great day. This is the first year I won't see my pumpkin for Halloween so I'm a little sad.  I'm uncomfortable driving thru the big city at night and especially this night cause kids run out on the main streets constantly.So, I'm staying home.

Here is a list of my likes for this week:


1.  MY BROTHER IS CANCER FREE!!! We were actually surprised on the Tuesday follow up visit to the urologist.  The prostate was removed as well as the outlying lymph nodes 2.5 weeks ago. Of course, samples were sent to the pathologist .  The cancer had grown in the prostate (as the surgeon had suspected) but had not gone to the lymph nodes so he is cancer free after having it 1.5 years.  No radiation necessary which really relieved me as I had dreaded taking him every day for 45 days straight with his other disabilities. He is dealing with the after- affects of the surgery and will be for about 2 months- but we are so glad and blessed.

2.  Boho DIY decoupage  pumpkins on You Tube.  I tried to get a photo but  couldn't accomplish that.  Here's the you tube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rft9OWEnPH4&t=28s
Trust me- they are really pretty.  I will try to make one for next year.  Mark Montano is the artist.

3. Aurifil thread.  That's a no-brainer for me but I thought I would share with you a little incident while I was sewing the second valance for my daughter.

Here is the amount of sewing I had left till I was all done:

Maybe 3 inches.
Then this happened:

The spool jumped off the thread peg and into the first thread holder- scared the daylights out of me.
So, then I had to get out a new spool.  I was having  difficulty removing the wrapper on the new spool and so I got the scissors out to cut it off.  However, I accidentally snipped the thread:

I was sick.  At $12 a spool, this is not good (sometimes I can get them on sale for $9 online).
I installed it on the sewing machine anyway, finished the 3 inches and just waited till I reached the tear.  It was only a few rotations! I was shocked and happy.

4.  Cracker Barrel lunch and shopping.  They have the cutest gift shop. I only remembered to take one photo:

This little guy goes up and down the ladder!  The ladder is attached to the tree at top and bottom which is unsightly but he is adorable climbing one boot at a time. The ladder is about 6 foot.
Cracker Barrel has good lines of clothing at reasonable prices. Of course, they also carry old fashioned toys and candy. Lots of neat things in a small space.

5. An Arizona Snowman. 

My daughter is probably going to make this.  It was on Facebook.

6. Washington Nationals.  Winner of the World Series- nicely done.




Have a great week!

Join us at lee Anna's site: Not Afraid of Color  for more "likes"
mary

Things I like Thursdays Oct 24

Greetings!

Hope you all are enjoying Fall.  Here's a list of my "likes " for this week:

1.  The Doors are OPEN.  Finally we are getting "fresh" air in our home.  It's in the 50's in the morning and topping out at 90 in the afternoon. This is crazy. But, I can keep the doors open till 11 if their is no pollution.

2. 5 min microwave  Mac and Cheese in a cup.  Unbelievable good and a total of 5 minutes. I use GF mac so this is wonderful. If you want the recipe it's at Tasty.com . I used 1/2 cup shredded cheese and cooked the mac 4 minutes contrary to the recipe.

3. Homemade Lo Mein. Jet Tila's link:

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/lo-mein-noodles-7114663

I love Lo Mein and have been trying to make my own  for years with fake soy.  I  finally succeeded.

Here's my prep for the lo mein as it cooks quickly.

It took me longer to chop the vegetables and chicken than cook the food. Haha

The finished dish:

It is so good.  And, it makes a  lot. I even bought real lo mein noddles. I only used bok choy and carrots but you could add other veggies.

4.  Pick- up grocery service at my local Fry's  store (Krogers to other states). I was taking care of my brother after surgery.   5 days later, I  needed to pick up a few groceries,  more bandages, etc.  So, I couldn't be gone long. I went online,  picked out what I wanted, drove over to the store at the appointed time and 5 minutes later they put the stuff in my truck.  It was free for the first 3 visits but will be $5 from then on.  I'm on a limited income, work to keep spending  in line with the budget-but, this was a game changer. I recommend it highly.  More and more grocery stores are offering this service as well as delivery in my area. It would cost $10 for delivery and I'm not there-yet.

5. 2nd Valance for my daughter is done.  I made a second Christmas valance-this time for her dining room.  She is a happy camper.

6.  Being stubborn.  Heehee.  I tried to draw/paint feathers. It didn't start out well:

The big green fat lines are the first try.Oh dear.   The scratchy black on the right was 2nd .  The top blue/green is the 3rd.  The gray one at the right bottom is the best I could do. On to something else.

7. Three Owls painting. 

Very difficult, but very cute.  I spent most of the day on this one courtesy of Nianiani 's You Tube tutorial. 

So, even though I've been crazy busy helping my brother, I did find time to play.  Thank God.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please join us for more "likes" at Lee Anna's site: Not Afraid of Color

mary

Things I Like Thursdays Oct 17

Greetings

Well, we made it thru my brother's surgery and we are dealing with recovery and a catheter which he needs a lot of help with but he's improving every day. Thank you all for your support and good wishes.

Here's a list of my likes for this week:

1.  St Joseph's Dignity Health Hospital.  The staff was just so nice and helpful. It's a new facility so it's pretty, modern and clean- and only 10 minutes from my home. The surgeon/urologist said my brother could go home on the second day but the FEMALE hospital doctor said it was too risky and should stay another day because of his blood clots.  He stayed the second day. Juat sayin.

This photo doesn't do the landscape justice.  They went all out on Xeriscaping (drought tolerant) plants and have a Zen- type garden.


2. Grinch Cookie Dough.

It's supposed to be at Kroger and Target in October-haven't seen it yet but this is a must for Thomas.

3.  My daughter's finished Christmas valance- it's so cute

the back

                                                         THE FRONT
4.  Flu shot at Safeway- Cigna was out of the shots already (really?) but I was still able to get it for free at Safeway.

5. Christmas Trees at Home Depot.

They put a smile on my face.  I belong to a Christmas group on Facebook and many people already have their trees and decorations up!  I'll still wait for Thanksgiving.

I have not had any time to sew or paint so nothing to show you on that front- I'm so busy taking care of my brother and the house I just crash when I can. Next week should be much easier.....  She says.

Hope you all are doing well and join us at Lee Anna's site for more "likes": Not Afraid of Color

Take care,
mary

I like Thursdays Oct 10

Greetings!

Hi. This has been another busy week but I have a few likes to share with you.  Please join us at Lee Anna's site for more "likes" at Not Afraid of Color.

1. Dove Chocolate Bar.

I don't by candy often but I  tried this and fell in love.

2. Cabbage soup with meatballs.

In the Crock Pot.I just put shredded cabbage, chopped carrots, chopped red pepper ,stewed tomatoes, chicken broth to cover and spices. Cook 4 hours on high and and 7 on low. I added thawed frozen turkey meatballs for another 30 minutes.

3.  Crock pot baked ziti.  Since it's still hot here, I've been using the crock pot instead of the oven.

I took most of the instructions from the recipe, Slow Cooker Baked Ziti at allrecipes.com

No meat, just really good. I added thawed, frozen chopped butternut squash to make it more healthy.

4. The Hallmark Christmas movie schedule for this season:

I hope you can read it.  You're welcome.

5. My new Bamboo painting.

It's now one of my favorites and looks just like my real bamboo plant (mostly).

Well peeps, gotten run to get my flu shot! Yay!

Hope you are enjoying this week.  Have a good one.
mary.

P.S. I'm posting this on Wednesday because my grandson will be here all day tomorrow (I'm so excited) and my brother's surgery is Friday so I'm getting ready for that.

I Like Thursdays Oct 3

Greetings!

It's 61 degrees this morning!  I have been waiting almost 6 months to go walking around my block and got ready to go out the door and instead saw this:

Two Wild Coyotes.  I ran in the house and grabbed my camera and took this shot.  At one point they turned around and looked at me.  Needless to say I walked in a different direction- not on my own street. Dang it all.  If we call Game and Fish to come pick them up the coyotes will be long gone. I don't know what to do about it. This is the third time in a few weeks that I have seen a coyote. UGH.

However, I do like this cooler weather and some other stuff:

1.  Fall shows returning- This is Us., The Resident, New Amsterdam.That was last week; then, this week,  I found The Durrels and Poldark  on PBS:

They are such a fun family.

Isn't he beautiful? Just sayin.

2.  Donated quilt tops done and ready to go to the church:

The first one was "Briar Rose" charms from Wilmington with Kona Snow charms .  I ordered the first charm pack (twice) and didn't like them when they arrived years ago but with the white, they turned out all pretty. The second top is a 4 square from stash fat quarters.  I'm still trying to destash.

3.Local  Firefighters.  My daughter was talking to some firemen shopping for groceries and asked them what was the procedure to get Thomas a visit to their firehouse. She explained Thomas' miracle birth, his disabilities and interests (sports, monster jam  and firefighters) . They were SOOO interested and made an appointment for the following Saturday for their little family to tour the station.   She, her husband and Thomas were there for 2 hours.  The firefighters took him for a ride on the ladder truck (which meant he had to be carried out of the wheelchair and onto the truck), gave him a firefighter t-shirt, a Phoenix Suns basketball game, a Phoenix Suns shirt, a firefighter's cap and a real firefighter's helmet from the captain.  Unbelievable.  They all had such a wonderful day and returned the next day with home made cookies for the crew..

4. Thomas' firefighter pants for Halloween. So, of course Thomas wants to be a firefighter for Halloween.  My daughter got a pair of pants (twice his size but cost $2) at Goodwill. :

I hemmed them, cuffed them and  added green felt to the cuffs. He is so excited for Halloween.

5. Net Zero produce bags.  So, I saw them on the internet and was pulled right in,. They are a thin, airy, nylon for use at the grocery store and in the fridge.  "  You can fill them with produce at the store , wash the produce and store in fridge"  Well, I received them in 2 weeks from Shanghai!  I didn't read the fine print when I ordered them. but was surprised on their long journey.  I received way too many so I washed a few right away and put them in the car.  I have shopped for produce 2 times since I put them in the car  and still haven't remembered to use them.  What's even funnier is I thought they would be so convenient at the store because the store  frequently runs out of produce bags.

They come in 3 sizes.

Between household chores, runs to the store/doctors and all this sewing, I'm tired.  Oh- I also have  a bladder infection so the meds are tiring me out, too.  Today we go for my brothers pre-op tests at the hospital  for his upcoming surgery next week. I'm too tired to stress out on that, too!!  HAHA

Anyway, hope you all are having a great week and welcome to October- at last!  Joins us at LeeAnn's site for more "likes" at Not Afraid of Color.

mary😊