She's Back

What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.  Buddha 

What a smart guy! I've always believed that thoughts are things, but I need to rethink the feelings part. I have the imagine part conquered. I imagine all kinds of things I'm going to do. Someday I'll do this, someday I'll finish another book, etc. We call this Living on Someday Isle.

I've had a request to resurrect my blog. I've discovered that I miss taking photos to share and recording my days. I'm not ready to get back into full blog mode, but I will be doing a daily journal again by way of my blog. If you wish to tune in, be my guest. I'll let you know when I publish, and anytime you wish your name removed from my list, just reply and tell me "enough already."

I've taken a few photos I'd like to share, and I'm back in journal mode as of yesterday and will probably publish each Sunday.

Stormy has a new stool so she can watch out the guest room window. I now have three ugly mis-matched stools in the dining room, family room, and guest room - cats rule.

Pepper has another eye problem. He sometimes gets an eye infection as he can't close his left eye properly as a result of the scar tissue. I think this time it might be a present from Stormy, as a result of the cat fight which woke me at 6:00 a.m. one morning. Sometimes Pepper just goes after her for no reason (or because she scratches in the potty box too long), and I think he might have gotten the worst of this little encounter. We did a week of eye drops from a prescription I picked up from the vet, then we visited the vet and did a week of eye salve. We returned to the vet yesterday for a followup and picked up another tube because I administer it three times a day and the tube is tiny. We have an appointment to go back in two weeks.

I still have four and a half feral kitties: Baby, Sweetie Face, Boy Kitty, Earl Gray, and Freddie part of the time. Freddie is the black and white tuxedo cat, so I named him Fred Astaire. I'm sure he has a vacation home or lots of relatives to visit, because he's here only part time. The other four I call my little Rebel Army. I've removed all their winter blankets and unplugged the heated pads, but they still use the houses sometimes. I've given them an eviction notice for June 1. Earl Gray must have gone visiting with Freddie this day.

I recently had the ladies over for a salad lunch: Chicken Salad, Potato Salad, Just Eat It Salad, Summer Corn Salad 1, and a new one I call Any Flavor Jello Salad. Cherry Chocolate Cake and something else (but I forget what) for dessert. And I forgot to take a photo of the new salad, so I made it again today, and I'll get the recipe on the computer before my next post.

I used my dishes from the Miss Scarlett's Favorites theme dinner, and now they're gone. I took a car load to Friend Jean for her church's rummage sale, and I'm working on another load.

Seriously?! Hail and tulips?

My daughter was here for a week. We had lots of fun and a wonderful lunch at Niece Terri's. Kathy is vegan, so Terri made vegan lasagna soup, and an elaborate salad bar. Blackberry sorbet for dessert. The rest of us had grilled chicken breast with our salads. Her table was beautiful. Check out her new tablecloth in the background. Gorgeous.

The three of us went to Baker Creek Seeds on Friday before their Spring Fling on the following Sunday (Mother's Day) and Monday. We had lunch in their vegan restaurant, and some people were preparing for the rush by cutting up cauliflower - the biggest I've ever seen!

We also visited on April 27 last year when Kathy was here, and I took these photos then.

Their selection of seeds is astounding. You can request a catalog on line at Click Here. Or view a digital catalog online. Baker Creek Seeds is in Mansfield, Missouri, across the highway from the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum.

Kathy and I went to see silouettes at the Performing Arts Center at Nixa High School. I'd seen them on YouTube from an America's Got Talent performance. Not the same. The big group is performing in Las Vegas. We got a branch off the tree - a local offshoot. Very disappointing at $55 per ticket. And my real estate taxes went up big time due to the bond issue to build the center.

What is worth the price is Queen Esther at Sight and Sound Theater in Branson, Missouri. At $72 a ticket, it's a fraction of what the show is worth. Friends and I went last Saturday, and I was so moved, I actually cried. I was overwhelmed. The scenery was an engineering feat with people, props, curtains, and building parts sinking below the stage or sailing off into the heavens. We saw camels, llamas, goats, minature horses, a dog, horses, doves, parrots, a donkey. Only the mama and baby elephants were props. They looked and walked like the real deal. And they were decorated so beautifully, complete with a howdah on mama elephant. You know, that seat with a little roof that you can ride in. I didn't know what it was called either - I had to Goggle it.

The costumes rivaled the current robes at the King Charles coronation. Rich fabrics embroidered in gold and studded with jewels. Their crowns were as beautiful as those in the UK, but not real gems, of course. Unfortunately, no photos. But if you don't want to travel to Missouri or Pennsylvania to see the show in person, you can view it online or order a DVD. Here's the link. Click HERE.

Kathy and I spent Mothers Day binge watching Foyle's War. I bought the DVD's for seasons 1 and 2 at our local library book sale, and I can check out seasons 3-8. I'm hooked. You might be able to stream it. Foyle is a policeman in Great Britain during WWII.  Educational as well as entertaining.

A couple of Bewares. These bones came from the last Appleton Ham I bought at Aldi. Good ham (what there was of it), but not a bargain. This was just the shank portion.

Watch the prices at Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen. I ordered chicken tenders and shrimp. It came with a side and a biscuit plus a drink. I always drink water, so not a benefit. She asked my side and I told her cole slaw. At the same time, the manager came over and started scooping up Cajun French Fries. I said, "Those don't look spicy," and he said they weren't and gave me a few to sample. I told the girl, "Oh, I want those." Then she asked me if I wanted a regular biscuit or a strawberry biscuit. Strawberry biscuit? Never heard of it, so Heck, yeah! It's in the top bowl.

The biscuit had some jelly in the middle.

Then she gave me the total - $17.07 plus tax.

She gave me the french fries AND the cole slaw (not very good), when I meant french fries instead of cole slaw. The fries were $3.49. And the strawberry biscuit was an extra 59 cents. I should have gone to Applebee's and had a big platter of chicken tenders and fries, plus cole slaw for $15.49 plus tax. Take a look. Click HERE and scroll down. Wow! Everything looks yummy, and I'm not even hungry.

I'm not really a skinflint, and I didn't have to borrow from my food budget to pay the bill, but I do like getting value for my money.

I've blabbed long enough. Stay tuned.