A PRAYER REQUEST FOR MY FRIEND, JETTIE!

Hi there!

My friend that encouraged me to
BLOG

in the first place 

is having

 HIP SURGERY

tomorrow morning.

Since switching over to this 

new computer I can't pull up

any of my old pictures

so I don't have a picture of her.

She did write this book though

and I was able to find it on the

internet.

Interesting title, huh?

(and a good book)

However,

She says she has
NO FEAR

going into this surgery.

Not sure I would be that calm.

Three years ago she had 

HIP SURGERY

on her other hip

and had a good recovery.

Six months ago she had

KNEE SURGERY
on her right knee

and she has done

really well since then.

However,

HER LEFT KNEE
 is killing her and

without this surgery

she will be in a 

wheelchair because of the pain.

To complicate matters,

her back has been 

"giving her fits"

(as they say in the South)

and she is in constant pain.

Because of the upcoming surgery

she has not been able to take

pain meds.

Please say a prayer that the 

SURGERY will be SUCCESSFUL

and that JETTIE

 will have an

EASY RECOVERY.

If you are not a PRAY-ER

please send your good wishes.

I told her she should go for a

BOOB JOB

while she was under the knife

cuz there aren't too many 

things left to be replaced.

Hmmmm...maybe that's why

she doesn't want a

BOOB JOB!

(yeah- I know surgery isn't funny---

BUT---Jettie wouldn't expect

any less from me)

A PRETTY PINK VALENTINE TREE

Now I KNOW some of you

are going to be thinking...

Okay! That is TOO much.

And...it may be TOO MUCH

but  I think that 

SOMETIMES-

TOO MUCH is BETTER

than

LESS is MORE--

Doesn't make any sense?

Don't worry about it...

I never said I was going to make sense here.

Now I ask you- Is that cute, or what?

What?

More?  You want more?

Little boxes of candy tucked here and there.

And the hearts I showed you how to make

here

And a topper made by sweet Tete.

Tete rhymes with Sweet...

and Pete and neat and...okay..I quit

It's perfect, isn't it?

At the base is a sweet crocheted

table topper that belonged to my mother.

This was made by Lulu one year.

Every tree needs an angel

Soft and Pretty

Love it...

SEE? It's Pinkly Pretty!!

This little beauty sits in the bay window

in the front sitting room

in front of the old leaded glass window

I saved from one of the houses

we rehabbed.

The matching window had too

much damage and fell apart.

And, now that you have enjoyed 

A Bit Of Beauty

I give you 

ONE MORE BEAUT!

My understanding is that he is

STILL LOOKING FOR A DATE

for

VALENTINE'S DAY~

Anyone interested?

Anyone?

anyone?

anyone...

Have a great 

PINKLY PRETTY WEEKEND!

THE SADDEST LITTLE GREEN BAY PACKER BACKER

My daughter posted this

and I just had to

SHARE IT HERE.

Look at our little

Bright Eyes!

I think that face belongs in 

PICTURES,

don't you?

(notice she has her hands

'tattooed' for the game)....

I'll be over at the VA today

pushing some sad 

Green Bay vets around.

Be back in a day or so 

with some 

NEWS

or sumthin'......

OCTOPUS ON THE ROCKS- A DELICACY I SERVE ALL THE TIME---Told in Nana Diana STORY FORM

This, my friends, is

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!
What we are going to talk about today is 
The Feeding Frenzy For Little Ones
otherwise known in some circles 
(those without children) 
as Lunchtime.

Join me at the table as we get set up. 
Places please! 
Are your hands washed? 
Three little girlie
heads nod up and down. 
Okay- Sit! 
No SweetCheeks! 
That is NOT your chair. 
Your chair is the one 
with the plastic wrap over the seat- 
Good, good...
Player number three has assumed the position
 I think that's what it's called-
I don't watch a lot of football-okay-
I go to the football PARTIES-
I pretend that I am watching football...
but basically, 
I am making jokes 
at everyone else's expense- 
 So, Player #3 has taken her place. 
Ria wants to sit on the bench 
with the pillows.
That is her favorite spot. 

pinterest
However, there is a small glitch in this plan. 

SweetCheeks is sitting NEXT to the bench. 
That means that she can, 
at any given moment, 
touch the food on Ria's plate~ 
That makes Ria scowl and howl. 
This will NOT work.
 Shift SweetCheeks. 
She does NOT want to move
 because she can't SEE. 
See? See what? 
It's got nothing to do with 
the view out the window-
it has everything to do with 
"seeing" Ria's plate. 
Too bad, so sad-
You're moving because....
the bench is built in and can't be moved. 
Okay-two down...One to go...
Lulu can sit anywhere because 
she will mind her p's and q's. 
Well, most of the time-
we might discuss this later.
Lulu sits in a chair.


Now, we throw 
ANOTHER player into the queue. 
It is MyHero! 
He has heard the word FOOD- Lunch? 
Where is HE supposed to sit? 
Lulu is in his "regular" place-
whatever that means...
since when did God stamp 
YOUR NAME on THAT chair
I ask ever so nicely(not)....
MyHero takes the only seat left.
It is next to SweetCheeks. 

YAYY-She says...Papa is sitten wif me. 

"I don't want to sit by her", he whines-
"She touches me with her greasy hands." 

"Dey NOT greeeezy,Papa! she exclaims-
 rubbing her hands on his shirt to show him. 

Players #1 & #2 are giggling
as MyHero inspects his shirt sleeve.
Sadly, he cannot find any grease.

What are we having you ask?
Here it comes, folks! 
My super-secret special meal 
that EVERY kid will devour 
with joy in their hearts. 
What is it you want to know.....Ready? 
OCTOPUS ON THE ROCKS! 

Stop gagging...
you will love this, I promise. 
Here is how you fix it. 
Take one hot dog. 
Split it in half leaving about 1-1/2" unslit.
 Cut the slitted sides into "legs"
Yes...yes...now you are getting the idea. 
Cut each side about 3 times. 
This will give you a 6 legged octopus 
(which no one will comment on
 until they get to Kindergarten 
and know it has 8 tentacles). 
Stand him (or her) upright on a paper plate.
Spread the legs out and put in the microwave.
 Zap it for 1 minute. 
The legs will curl up a bit-perfect. 
Put two dots of ketchup on for eyes 
and 1 big one for a mouth. 
Great~ Good Job! 
Now, the rocks 
(which you have made beforehand and have waiting on the stove) 
That happens to be macaroni & cheese. 
The trick is it MUST BE the shell kind 
Octopuses /Octopi?-
 DO NOT LIKE
to sit on any old macaroni.
You need SHELL shaped macaroni. 
I like the Velveeta brand cuz it's easy. 

(yeah...yeah...I know...y'all make yours from scratch-it sucks to be you). 

So, make a nice little mound of shells 
on the plate. 
Plop Mr.Octopus in the center...
Make a  big smile-y mouth 
the first time 
you serve this
so you don't
 scare the Bejesus out of the kid. 
Then, ah yes...
what is the vegetable 
to go with this delectable dish 
you want to know? 

It is SEAWEED. 
That's right! SEAWEED-
also known as Spinach. 

Your kid doesn't eat spinach? 
You will be surprised and amazed. 
You will be overcome with joy-
you will almost faint-
You will send me letters 
of praise and blessings~
Yes! They do eat spinach
 IF they think it is seaweed!
 (barring that-try green beans 
but it doesn't look nearly as cute 
as you can  plainly see).

So, there you have it folks. 
A gourmet feast for any child. 
And, if you are very good, and don't whine, 
one day soon I will tell you how to make 
Nana's Bananas.

This is longer than my regular posts
and a story from when 
SweetCheeks was little.
I might throw one of these in
now and then---
just for fun.

I HEART YOU! I HEARD YOU! HERE'S A TUTORIAL ON HOW TO SEW A HEART-

 Good Morning, Blog Friends!
Let's have a little heart -
for each other--and respect.
I am NOT getting into the 
Inaugural Debate here today-
as I am seeing way too much of it
on Facebook AND blogs.
Blogging is not a political platform
to me.
I have my beliefs- you have yours-
let's share JOY in those things
WE AGREE ON.

Like PRETTY THINGS
for the loves of our life.

I know a lot of you are

GLUE GUN fans.

As for me, I would rather

SEW instead of GLUE.

Here are some sweet little

hearts using bits and pieces

of fabric and lace.

I made that one in about twenty minutes

using the sewing machine.

Ready for a quick lesson?

You GLUE GALS might even

find this easy enough to do.

First cut 2 hearts out of fabric.

I used a rough homespun for the

outer heart.

I iron each piece as I go.

Then cut out 1 heart using a THIN

batting (like a quilt batting)

DON'T IRON the batting.

DO NOT ask me how I know this.

l place the batting on top of the two

pieces of fabric.

MAKE SURE YOUR PRETTY FACES

ARE FACING EACH OTHER AND

ARE UPSIDE DOWN WHEN YOU 

PLACE THE BATTING ON TOP OF THEM.

Then sew all the way around the edges

making sure to catch  all 3 pieces

(2 fabric hearts and batting)

No need to leave an opening for turning-

you'll see why.

Now-if it is all stitched together- turn it over.

The batting will be down and 

you will be looking at the fabric heart.

The upper left edge is turned under

in this picture-

but it, too, is stitched.

Take your scissors and cut a slit

right in the center of the

PRETTY FACE of your heart.

Then, turn it inside out.

The batting will be sandwiched

between the two layers of fabric.

  It's gonna look ugly.

Don't worry you will be covering

the ugly later.  See? Ugly!

Now cut a smaller heart out

of a contrasting fabric.

Iron it and place it over

the ugly hole. 

Using a ZIGZAG STITCH

sew it in place.

Then cut a third smaller heart

and stitch that on top of 

the 2nd fabric using the 

zigzag stitch.

After doing that

thread an needle with 6 strands

(or 3 doubled) of embroidery floss.

Because I don't want to tie a knot in my

floss I start the stitch way

down inside the heart and pull the

thread up and into the heart

but not through it.  It will hold

itself if you don't pull it too hard.

Place a long running stitch around 

the heart following the shape.

When you have gone all the way 

around, put your needle through

the back of the fabric and snip it off.

I added a ribbon bow and

a "gem" on the front of this one.

To finish it off I added

A RIBBON HANGER

and 

KISSED IT CLOSED 

with an

X Stitch.

So....even if you are not a sewer,

these are pretty easy.

AND

Pretty Sweet, Huh?

These two took me less than an hour

from start to finish.

The second heart has things 

that are glued on--like the clock face

and the little pearl heart.

Aren't they sweet?

Sure better for you than 

THESE SPICED HEART KISSES!

(Made in town here by Seroogy's)

-although they sure are good-

Hmmmm. 

Those look like

FIFTY SHADES OF GOOD

to me!

BEAUTIFYING A WINTER BIRD BATH

Want to see a 

BIRD BATH

makeover?

images

Sure you do!

I bought a heated

bird bath to keep 

water close by the

feeders for our

feathered friends.

It is FUNCTIONAL but

NOT PRETTY.

No stand?

No problem.

I wired it to an old

milk can I have had 

for years.

Pretty tacky looking, huh?

It's okay!

You can agree with me- 

IT LOOKS TACKY~
It sits on a rubbermaid
top so that it doesn't
get rust on the patio.
because MyHero hates rust
and likes to scold me about it

Hmmmm...

With a little help from my

Partner In Crime

oldest son,

we (ahem) borrowed some

greens from an abandoned

property.

Don't ask where because 

I want to go back next year

and if I tell YOU all my 

greens will be gone.

This is at the base of my

back stoop so I can get 

to it easily to fill it with

fresh water.

I wrapped this

baby with greenery,
tying it as I went.

Now it looks better AND 

I think that the birds will be

more inclined to use it.

Not bad huh? 

And the morning after

I woke up to snow.

Sweet white snow.

If I were a bird I would be

inviting all my friends over for a

POOL PARTY...

IF I didn't have to put on a

bathing suit, that is.