Friday, March 14, 2025

UPDATE ON LIZA AND MYSELF AND HUBBY

 FIRST OF ALL-

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU THAT PRAYED

FOR SWEET LITTLE LIZA!



SHE CAME THROUGH THE SURGERY

AND IS DOING WELL.

THE SURGERY WAS A BIG UNDERTAKING

AND IT WILL TAKE HER A LONG TIME

TO RECOVER.

SHE IS IN GOOD SPIRITS AND DEALING

WITH THE CHANGES IN HER LIFE.

PLEASE CONTINUE TO KEEP HER

IN YOUR PRAYERS.


SEVERAL OF YOU HAVE REACHED OUT TO ME

TO SEE HOW I AM DOING.

THE TRUTH IS, 

I HAVE HAD A RECURRENCE OF AN OLD

AUTO-IMMUNE ISSUE.

THE FIRST TIME I HAD THIS WAS IN 1993.

I WAS IN BED FOR ALMOST 6 MONTHS

UNABLE TO MOVE WITHOUT A LOT OF PAIN.

OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS I HAVE HAD

A FEW LITTLE 'BLIPS' BUT HAVE ALWAYS

GOT IT UNDER CONTROL BEFORE IT GOT TOO BAD.

NOT SO THIS TIME.


THE FIRST WEEK IN FEBRUARY IT HIT ME HARD-

IT STARTED IN MY RIGHT FOOT AND IT 

SWELLED TO ALMOST DOUBLE ITS NORMAL SIZE.

I COULD NOT BEAR ANY WEIGHT ON IT

WITHOUT EXCRUCIATING PAIN.

I HAVE A WONDERFUL DOCTOR THAT  HAS DONE

HIS BEST TO HELP.

I HAVE BEEN ON ANTI-INFLAMMATORIES

AND STEROIDS SINCE THEN.


I THINK I AM TURNING THE CORNER BUT

STILL HAVING A HARD TIME WALKING

OR BENDING AND SLEEPING IS AN

ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TASK.

I AM NOT TELLING YOU THIS TO ASK FOR

SYMPATHY BUT AS A REASON I HAVE NOT

BEEN AROUND VISITING MUCH.


I WILL TELL YOU THAT I AM A LOT BETTER

CARETAKER

THAN I AM AT BEING THE CARETAKEREE...

YEP-NOT A REAL WORD BUT YOU GET IT.


I HOPE TO BE BACK TO MY USUAL SASSY SELF SOON.

YOU KNOW THEY CAN'T KEEP US OLD BROADS

DOWN FOR LONG.

SO-BEAR WITH ME AS I CONTINUE TO RECOVER.


SEVERAL OF YOU HAVE ALSO ASKED ABOUT

HUBBY'S TRIP TO MAYO.

WE WERE GIVEN SOME ANSWERS THAT HAVE HELPED

AND A SEMI-DIAGNOSIS. 

THE NEUROLOGIST HERE AND AT MAYO SAID IT 

IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX CASES

THEY HAVE EVER SEEN AND HE FALLS INTO

SEVERAL (OR NONE) OF THE USUAL CATEGORIES.

I AM STILL HIS PRIMARY CARETAKER-

WHICH, LET ME TELL YOU, HAS BEEN FUN

WITH MY OWN HEALTH ISSUES.

(I MIGHT HAVE LIED ABOUT THE FUN PART).

HE IS IN BED ABOUT 80% OF THE TIME AND I

DON'T SEE THAT CHANGING MUCH.

SO--AS USUAL--

WE SLOG ALONG DAY BY DAY HERE.

THERE YOU HAVE IT-

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NANA DIANA AND COMPANY.


IT'S TIMES LIKE THESE THAT I WISH I DRANK....LOL

INSTEAD I HAVE BECOME ADDICTED TO MEDICAL SHOWS

AND HAVE BEEN BINGE WATCHING THEM

SINCE EARLY FEBRUARY.

I THINK WITH WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

I COULD PROBABLY APPLY FOR A MEDICAL LICENSE

AND MOVE DIRECTLY INTO THE SURGICAL FIELD.

LET ME KNOW IF I CAN HELP YOU WITH 

ANY OF YOUR MEDICAL NEEDS.


HAVE A WONDERFUL MARCH AND WISHING YOU AN EARLY

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!






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Sunday, February 2, 2025

ASKING FOR PRAYERS FOR SWEET LITTLE LIZA

 I haven't done a 

PRAYER REQUEST 

in a long, long time.

However, one of the blogs I follow,

Tom The Backroads Traveler

has a little granddaughter named 

Liza.


                                       This was taken just before her surgery.

Liza is just 12 years old and was

diagnosed with oral cancer.

This past week she had major surgery

and faces a long road of ongoing recovery.

Tom, and his family,

 need all the support 

they can get.

You know as a parent, or grandparent,

you just feel totally helpless

when something like this happens.

You wish you could 'fix' life and

make it all go away.

We can't do that---but---

what we can do is

PRAY.

If you have access to a prayer chain

please add sweet little Liza's name.

If you remember, 

my hubby had 

Stage 4 head/neck cancer

 and was

given a 3% chance of survival.

You all put him on prayer chains

around the world and 

3 months later,

with radiation and chemo,

he was cancer free and remains

cancer free going on 9 years.

I believe in the power of prayer

and I know many of you do, too.

So-please pray!

Thank you so much to all of you

that have been so faithful following me-

even though

I have not been nearly as active 

blogging

these past couple of years.

Y'ALL ARE THE BEST.


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Tuesday, January 21, 2025

HOW COLD IS IT TODAY? MINUS 8˚F RIGHT NOW-A HIGH OF MINUS 1˚F- BUT MY HEART IS WARM!

  It is COLD COLD COLD here.

What do you do on a cold day?

Well,
because I am too lazy 
to go out and walk
my usual 3 miles,
I decided to go through
some of my old magazines
and came across this one from
January/February of 2015,

Sadly, they have stopped publication
of this magazine.  
I had all of them from the first
issue forward.  
When I got rid of most of my old magazines,
I just could not bear to part with my
ROMANTIC HOMES MAGAZINES
but, finally, I donated
my whole collection to an old friend.
She told me she now wants to redecorate
her whole house.
Please pray for her husband
he kind of hates me now-lol
She loves romantic and so do I.
Romance is just kind of timeless,
isn't it?

Anyway--
Let's talk about the next holiday
VALENTINE'S DAY.

February is all about Valentine's Day  but-
I don't think you have to wait for 
Valentine's Day to make this for someone special.
 Pink Pearl Lady Cake
HERE is a similar recipe.

I thought the cover was just lovely.
Got your cake mess cleaned up from
baking that heart cake above?
Good!  Now then
 you can see the
PINK HOUSE
owned by 
It is softly sweet and livable.
You can find her on Pinterest by clicking on her name.

 Here's a little sneak peek at the Florida estate 
of a New York couple.
This home was designed by
By:Sarah Yoon/Mark Roskams/photographer
It looks like Florida, doesn't it?
You can find more 

Okay-Now-Doesn't the home of
just make you dream of warm summer days?
Even though we are freezing our butts off here.
I found her on Facebook.
You can find it by clicking on her name above.
Prepare to  have your mouth hang open for a while.

While your mouth is hanging open....
purse your lips a bit and 
BLOW HARD.
Then you can blow up balloons to put together
this beautiful garland
styled by  
photography-Shirlie Kemp
So-There you have it.
A few things I love in the old
2015 January/February Issue of
Romantic Homes.

Know what else I love?
You!
Thanks for following along here.
Here's how I am feeling about you this morning....
Lips still puckered up from the balloon blowing
are they?  Good!
Here's to you!

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Saturday, January 11, 2025

REFLECTING ON THE PAST-LOOKING FORWARD TO THE YEAR -2025

 Yesterday as I was thinking-

about this New Year I found

my mind wandering back to
the place where I was born
and raised,
Bradford County, PA.

I don't have many pictures
of my time there,
but I came across some
photos that stopped me in my 
tracks.

Someone working for Google Earth
took stunning photos from our
farm setting and they are posted
for the world to see.
This is taken right in front of
our house- headed North.
Our farm house would have
set to the left about 150'
from the road.

You can see the shed my 
father and neighbor built
in the 50's on the right-hand
side of the road.
I remember playing with the
cut off pieces of wood and
sifting the sawdust through
my fingers.

I walked that road many a thousand  
and one times.
I remember when my father planted
the elm trees on the left and
they were just saplings.
My brother owned the
 old farm property
until he passed.

From our kitchen window this 
is what we saw....
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
and
the graveyard I wandered in
just across the road to the right.

To the far left and just out of sight
are mountains and there
are seven counties visible on a clear day.

There used to be fences on both sides
of the road and the cows would be
pastured on the left side....
another road I walked thousands of
times as a child...one I only walk
in my memory today.

The old church is beautiful.

It's a replica of a larger European church
copied to the most minute detail inside and out.

I didn't go there because we were not
Catholic-but several members of the
families attended mass there.
I have many relatives buried in the
grave yard to the right.

You can never really go home again,
can you?
Yet, I do....in my dreams...
I remember the smell of ham in the
oven on a Sunday morning and
fresh baked biscuits on the sideboard.
There was always a pie or two
for dessert and 
GINGERBREAD for my father.

I remember laughter and love,
 flowing free and easy 
and covering us like a warm blanket.
But....there were also some sad times,
and trials and tribulations.

My parents have both
"gone home" now, 
as has my only brother/sibling.
leaving only myself 
to relive the farm memories.

Leaving me to create my own memories
for the children that will follow me.
Someday they, too, will
"remember when"
and I hope their memories
are as happy as my own.

Happy New Year 2025
to all of you-.
I hope you, too, can look
back and remember the 
good parts 
and that time has
dimmed whatever heartaches
and disappointments you have
encountered along life's path.
I wish you a year of 
Love and Sweet Memories.

I will be back soon with an
update on hubby's trip to 
Mayo and the results.
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