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I worked on my L card over the weekend and finished it! I have been last minute for a few weeks. Now I am thinking on the M card. Living in MO my entire life, this should be a no-brainer, but I have to think on this and find something that I own that will work.
Hello everyone...boy is it gloomy and gray today. I have to keep reminding myself that by no means is winter over. Rain this afternoon, which we surely need.
Catherine, yes Mirren is the youngest, 10.5 years. Going on 25, I think. She's so funny, very wry and wise. Scott has adjusted his work schedule a bit so that even if he works on a given day, some days he will be home at night. But his main shifts are still 10 am-10pm.
Shirl, so good to hear from you and I'm very glad you received my card. Such turmoil you've been through. Things take time and you need time now. No rush to do certain things.
Scott's Mom and step Dad are here at their condo, they have spring break this week. They are still determined to move closer to here permanently but it isn't easy to satisfy them. I think they will have to build but finding a property that suits them will also be challenging. They are definitely not in a suburban mindset, need to be far away from neighbors, don't want woods but want lots of land. Money is no problem but compromise isn't easy for them and sometimes, buying a home requires it.
The pacemaker saga continues. Dale found out that the second lead that goes to the top of the heart is not working optimally. It was working in the old device up until maybe January. They want to get a second opinion on his issues. Janet sent this long text yesterday with all sorts of medical terms and then she called me to explain some. I didn't know that they leave the leads that are already present and attach them to the new device. Part of the problem is that cardiologists don't replace the pacemakers any longer, there is another tier of doctors who do that. I think the changing technology required more layers of specialists. Too many cooks stirring the soup, I think. He's had three pacemakers in the past 30 years and this has never been so complicated.
Kathy, that's nice you can go anywhere. I'm used to systems where you're told where you can go. There are multiple hospitals within a system but none of them were close to me in my old hometown. We had a hospital in Menomonee Falls but it was the wrong system, sadly. I'm finding out that hospitals all over the place, not just rural, are having staffing problems.
I'm contemplating L....probably will just do my new home town but need to decide how to do it.
Have a good week, everyone.
__________________ Jean Bean the Dancing Queen "You can play a shoestring if you're sincere." -John Coltrane
Good morning! It looks like we have survived the "blizzard." Don't get me wrong, there was some amazing snowfall but it was at the higher elevations. I'm concerned that the big deal they made out of it for our area, will just cause people to disregard future warning when they shouldn't.
Yesterday was baking day for me. I made some banana bread to use up some ripe bananas and made some regular bread as well. The banana bread was vegan and I also made it low oil by subbing in applesauce and it is still quite tasty....and almost gone. If DH hadn't had a meeting last night, it would probably be completely gone.
Shirl, good to see you. You are in my prayers and I think taking it slow is an excellent idea. I hope you don't have to make any huge decisions for at least a year. I'm so thankful that hospice was such a blessing as well.
My brother's surgery went well. I only learned afterwards that it is a two part process. The surgery that he had, they implanted wires and the device that will send info to his brain to stop the tremors. Then they wait a couple of weeks for the swelling from surgery to go down and he'll go into the doctor's office to get the device tuned up to help. He has a couple of large incisions on his head and so many staples, he could be Frankenstein for Halloween. His humor is completely intact and the surgeon was pleased with the surgical outcome. I look forward to the next report after he has had his tune-up.
Good job, Lisa, on getting your L card done. I didn't do any crafting over the weekend (insert sad face here). Finding something that works for the location has been my challenge this round more than thinking of a location.
I have two stamp sets, basically the same, both Hero Arts. One is wooden block and the other photopolymer. I chose Library. My daughter is a big book reader, so I often look for sets with books. This was easy for me after I finally got clean stamped images. They seemed to really give me frustration.
It's nearly 70 out here! It was much sunnier this morning. But it's still sunny. DH went fishing a bit but the fish are still hiding out on the bottom. We both bought senior lifetime fishing license. All we have to do is renew the trout stamp but DH bought a 3-year trout stamp last year so he's good until 2026.
Good morning! I think library is a wonderful location. For as much as the girls and I love reading, I don't have much in the way of book stamps at all. I did make my L card last night and made a card for the CAS challenge. It was fun to be crafty...yay!
Happy Birthday Kathy, hope you have a lovely day, I’ve got a feeling it’s actually tomorrow but my calendar is in European time so it confuses me, doesn’t take much!
Hi all! Shirl is was so good to hear from you. Yes, you definitely need time to process everything and grieve. John will be watching over you. I'm so glad you had a good experience with hospice.
__________________ Judy aka Gracie "Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." Maya Angelou
Happy, happy birthday, Kathy! I hope your guys are spoiling you big time! Today is also my SIL's birthday.
I had a lovely chat with DD1 yesterday morning. She is looking forward to spring break because she is house sitting for someone out there so will have access to a real kitchen. Not that she ever did much in the kitchen here at home but she misses having access to one.
DD2 had a "lovely" (insert very sarcastic pronunciation here) truck day yesterday. She had to be in at 6:30 because truck was coming at 7:30 but didn't get there until 9;30, I think it was. At least she didn't have to be in at 3 am for it! She said the poor truck driver, he had mechanical problems with his truck. Life happens, right?
I've seen some great locations for L already. I don't really have the right stamps for Louisiana but put together several of the things Louisiana is known for and had fun creating. That's the point, right?
Hello, Everyone. Boy do I have much to catch up on...
I do apologize for not popping in sooner, but life as been hectic as I'm sure all of you, too, have been slammed as well. I did want to just quickly say thank you to all for the birthday wishes and cards that I received: Gracie, Shirl, Jean, Lisa (lovinpaper), Kathy and Catherine. I think I let a few of you know that I had received your cards. I will catch up soon and pop in when I can. In the meantime, know that I am always keeping my Alpha Sisters in my heart and in my prayers. Love and miss all of you!
Shirl- know you are in my thoughts and prayers as well!
Happy Birthday Kathy! Card is not in the mail yet, but you are in my thoughts!
I have not been creating cards so much as carving stamps and making ATC's for swaps. I am chasing my tail!
Speaking of which- we have our grand-pup here this week. He loves Ray- if Ray is getting ready to walk him, he won't even let me put his leash on! He follows Ray around everywhere, even sits outside of the bathroom when Ray is inside! He did let me take him outside for a potty break tonight, and we were both amazed by that!
Heading to Ohio this weekend for a stamp carving workshop. One of the ladies carves with needles.... I wish to learn that as the tiny ones would be a great asset! Many other letterboxers I am familiar with will be there from Illinois as well.
I may not post often, but keeping on with reading. Catherine- surprised to see snow in your area!
Good morning! I had a meeting last night so not a lot of time at home with family. DD2 is busy with work and trying to get things ready for VBS this summer...oh, and trying to get registered for college in the fall as well. She is a busy girl! DH is going to be gone next week for work...he leaves Sunday night...boo!
I did talk on the phone with DD1 for 2.5 hours yesterday afternoon. I called her on my way home - hands free - and we were on the phone until I had to leave for my meeting. I asked her if she was all talked out and needed to go, she wasn't so she talked me all the way back down the hill. That was an unusual luxury to be able to talk with her for so long!
Sally, I had to smile at your comment that you will catch up soon. That is what I keep hoping to do and never achieve! May you have more success than I.
Shelly, I am amazed at your stamp carving. That seems like such a challenge to me. You sound very busy - as you usually are!
As for snow in our area, it didn't really come down this low in the elevation. We are around 2200 feet above sea level and the snow that stuck fell in higher elevations. Tahoe got 10.5 feet of snow in just a few days. We did have some at our level but it didn't stick so it doesn't count in my book! But FB reminds me that, last year, we had snow the end of March that stuck on the ground and we have neighbors who have lived her for a long time and they remember snow in May! You never know, it could happen apparently.
I'm baking again as family is coming to celebrate my oldest and youngest birthdays this month this weekend! Cheesecake is in the oven! Next will be a New York one!
Catherine, yes, I get gifts for my kids still! The youngest got new shoes and a Ninja air fryer, which he was playing with all day yesterday making us stuff!! He made pork chops in it and they were so tender!
Shirl, so great to see you posting. Prayers for you and your family.
Shelly, have fun on your weekend!! What a fun trip!
Good afternoon. It's my DD's birthday today. We're celebrating tomorrow. I have creme brulee in the oven. It's just ridiculously high priced at the restaurant where we are picking up food, so I said I'd make it.
Good morning, everyone! DH is off to Southern California. He left yesterday evening due to challenges with flight schedules...
We had a lovely weekend. My SIL, brother, and nephew came over for lunch on Saturday to celebrate my SIL's birthday. I made everything vegan and tried baking a chocolate cake and frosted it with orange frosting. It turned out wonderfully. I'm starting to try more vegan baking, thankfully the chocolate cake recipe I selected turned out very tasty.
Shirl, Tahoe hasn't gotten near the snow this winter as last. But the ten and a half feet came very fast.
Ann, we were both celebrating birthdays this weekend. That is awesome that you still get gifts for your boys.
I was celebrating my daughter's birthday in Phoenix this last weekend. My 3 granddaughters and my oldest son flew in from Wisconsin, but my DIL had to work so she couldn't come. We went to a Brewer's spring training game on Sat. Sunday, DD's wife rented a pontoon boat and we went boating on Lake Pleasant for the afternoon. The granddaughter's jumped in the lake, which was only 60 degrees and then, immediately out again! LOL. Fun day! My DD loved my watercolor of the mom and baby humpback whales. We had cheeseburgers on the grill and then, played a Burrito card game. It was hilarious. So much fun!
Needless to say, I'm having a low key day today! Hope everyone has a great Monday!
Catherine, that chocolate cake with orange frosting sounds yummy. I may need the recipe, but I don't need the calories...so could you leave them out? ;)
__________________ Judy aka Gracie "Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." Maya Angelou
Yes, it's so much fun celebrating with family! I asked my youngest brother and his wife over too and my former SIL was here as well! Great to get together for something other than a big holiday. More laid back.
Melody, I think we need your recipe and instructions for the creme brulee! Sounds amazing
Catherine, I take that cake recipe also when you get a chance. Sounds so yummy!!
What would we do without YouTube? My dryer just stopped mid cycle so DH went to YouTube, found what he figured it was, ordered the part Friday and it came today and I'm back in business! The part said it would come the 18th so it was a week earlier than I expected. Yay because I didn't want to have to go to the laundromat and I hated using mom's because she and my sister use that one a lot.
Hey there, good buddies, what's shakin'?
Lovely weather here but tomorrow will be rainy. There is even a chance of snow later this week. We sure get lulled into thinking that winter is over. Yes, snow in May is possible here too.
Hope your birthday was great, Kathy! And bravo with the dryer. I have new washer/dryer, it's all electronic. Makes me a bit nervous, so much could go wrong. I have to laugh, both appliances play a little Mozart tune when they're done. It's from the opera The Magic Flute. How perfect for me!!!!!
Catherine, chocolate with orange frosting sounds delightful. Please share recipes. I made some chia seed pudding for myself, I put a little orange zest in it, ooooh that was nice. So nice to have a long conversation with your eldest. I have vivid memories of truck days at Target. Most days were truck days, sometimes two trucks, plus the grocery truck. I didn't often do the unload itself but I certainly unpacked many many many boxes. My body still feels the affects. My feet have been awful lately.
Shelly, heading out again???? What fun. I'd like to learn how to carve. I have been playing a lot with watercolor lately. I think that pup needs to move in with Ray.
Sally, I think you just have accept that you will never catch up. We all will never catch up. Even if we think we are caught up, we are not. It's an illusion.
Shirl, so good to see your voice on this chat. Thinking of you every day.
Gracie, what a fun birthday. Saw the photos on Facebook....wow, I was thinking you were in cooler climes, looked like a hot summer day. Was it a big number birthday?
Ann, the birthdays and cakes sound great!
And more birthdays, Melody.. Creme Brule!!!!! Have I ever had it? I dont' think so. BTW when I was up north, I went to Golden Harvest. We had lunch and did a little shopping. Love that store.
I love it when Liz invites me over for coffee and brekkie, as Jayne calls it. I think it should be breakfie, like the mice in Cinderella. I went over on Sunday. I have to work hard to be able to carry on a conversation with the two girlies wanting to talk at the same time, Mirren is so good at interrupting. I usually go over there with questions of my own but I get home and have forgotten to ask them. It is rather chaotic but I love it.
I saw my first robin and am hearing the cardinal sing. I didn't know that northern WI is too cold for cardinals, even in the summer they're not there. Sad. Did you know that cardinals mate for life? I wonder why some birds do that and others don't.
I didn't watch the Oscars because I have no knowledge of the movies, but I did watch the documentary that won-20 Days in Mariupol, the first 20 days of the war in Ukraine. Brutal to watch. Awful. The propaganda is horrible. Those reporters were lucky to get out alive. I have Ukrainian acquaintances and I can't imagine how they feel. The surgeon who did Dale's pacemaker replacement is from Ukraine. I'm guessing he's been here a while, often when people from other countries come here with skills, they can't use them because of licenses.
So my daughter in law had a car accident last Wednesday, she rear ended someone. Same thing happened to my daughter a few weeks ago. No significant injuries for either fortunately, both cars totaled. DIL has to drive to Madison once a week for her job, that's where it happened. That was chaos because the car is still in Madison, it took a while to get everything sorted, then she had to figure out how to get home. I feel like I'm an accident waiting to happen around here...so much traffic, so many distractions, people drive so fast and recklessly. The main road closest to me has a speed limit of 25 because many of the houses on the street were having foundation issues because of the amount of traffic and 35 mph. Keeping people at 25 is impossible apparently. I rarely see police around and it would be hard to pull anyone over anyway, too much traffic. You don't want to have to turn left onto Losey Blvd. I go out of my way to get to a traffic light so I can turn right.
Well enough complaining about that. People are not going to change for sure.
Have a good day, everyone.
__________________ Jean Bean the Dancing Queen "You can play a shoestring if you're sincere." -John Coltrane
Good morning ladies. Creme Brulee isn't hard to make, but it's recommended that you have a kitchen torch to carmelize the sugar topping. You can do it under the broiler, but that's more likely to heat the custard more than a torch will. Also, normally it's made in ramekins. I'm sure you could bake it in a single dish as well, but I've never tried that.
Good morning! Fun, to read and catch up, it won’t remember it all. One thing I remember is what Jean said, we all will never catch up! Except, maybe Ann! LOL
I have a wedding to go to today, so probably, no catching up, today! I am now in the stage of life of attending best friends’ grandchildren’s weddings! I have been to their daughters, now going to their granddaughters weddings! Talk about feeling old!
Jean, I thought you lived in a smaller town? I don't know where I got that idea. Traffic is that bad? But I do know the part about driving out of the way in order not to have to turn left on a busy street. Most of the time, ours have the left turn signals to make it easy, although sometimes long lights. We have one that DH says if we have to stop there, we better have our lunch with us! LOL
Catherine, that sounds heavenly to get to talk to DD that long. I am always afraid to call ours as she is so busy, like you! I remember though calling her lots before she got so busy as she is in this stage of her life. We would talk while cooking, sharing recipes over the phone.
I think we had crème brûlée on a cruise, once. I am in awe that you made it, Melody. And, yes we need the recipe.
this is probably my check in for the week or month!
Have a great week, everyone!
Haha, Ann, the towel is in the bottom of the pan, and you put the ramekins on it. Then you pour boiling water into the pan on the towel (but not in the ramekins) about half way up the sides of the ramekins. So I guess you are baking them in a steam bath. When they are done baking, I use a canning jar lifter (tongs) to pick up the ramekins out of the hot water. Then I dump the pan of water (including the wet towel) into the sink. Once the towel cools enough to handle, I squeeze out the water.
Sharon, the torch is pretty easy to use. It uses a quality propane. Has an on/off switch. And a knob you turn to start the flame, which you can adjust. I set the ramekins on the stove top to torch the sugar.
Funny story. When I first decided to make creme brulee, we were talking to our friends. The wife loves creme brulee and was who introduced me to it. Her husband offered me a torch. It is actually a regular blow torch -- big -- powerful! Anyway, I tried it, but couldn't get it to work, because you need to point it downward to carmelize the sugar, and the flame would go out every time I pointed it down.
So I ended up asking for a kitchen torch as a gift, and my son got me one. He always does a lot of research on what is a good purchase. He likes to experiment in the kitchen.
Good morning! It is a lovely, rainy morning here, so pretty outside. DD2 and I made pizza last night for dinner. I re-introduced her to my quick pizza crust recipe (no yeast). I love it and it is a recipe I got in Home Ec class back in high school. It is more of a thin crust style. She has a wonderful yeast crust recipe which is delicious but, when you don't want to wait, this is fabulous.
I am having a terrible time adjusting to the time change - which is typical for me with the spring time change.
The cake recipe I made is here: https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-chocolate-cake/ It turned out wonderfully. For the frosting, I simply made a basic buttercream frosting (with vegan butter) but used orange juice for the liquid and also added orange zest. I just googled recipes and then selected the one with a 5.0 rating.
Gracie, if I could figure out how to remove the calories, I would sure do it!
Kathy, so glad your dryer is fixed and running again. Youtube University is fabulous and so helpful.
Jean, we would say the rainy weather is wonderful weather! The Michaels store that DD2 works at is on the smaller side and they only get one truck a week. I don't know if the bigger stores get more trucks or if they are also the one truck a week schedule as well. Her store doesn't have much in the stamping category which frustrates me.
Beautiful sunny day her so far! Have to enjoy it as cold weather is coming back! Wisconsin weather is so strange! One minute warm the next cold or rain and then snow!
How is everyone liking this round with locations? I sure have found some awesome places while I am searching for a card idea!
Anne, I have enjoyed the location challenge. I often ask my family and ideas fly out of their heads. For M, my husband says Mars. Well, I have no space anything, so that idea when out of my head. However, if one wanted a space theme, M = Mars, N = Neptune, O = Outer Space, P = Pluto, then I run out of ideas on the space theme. Today, I began asking about N. I think Nebraska as my brother lives there. He reminds me New York, New Jersey, Nile River, there is a coast in Florida called the Nature Coast, North Dakota, North Carolina, possibly some kind of Needlework museum or something. Anyway, it is fun to find new locations.
The list goes on... New Zealand, New Delhi, New South Wales, New Brunswick.
Hi
