PLEASE PRAY FOR GERT'S HUBBY, TOM, AGAIN!

I have been following Gert since I started 

blogging.

Her blog is:

Gert, Tom & Rusty, too.

I have no idea how we found each other-

but we did.

Gert's hubby, Tom, is not doing 

real well.

He is supposed to have some 

major surgery.

They are trying to make sure he

is stable enough for that surgery.

It has been one step forward and 

two steps back with his healthcare issues.

Gert is a trooper but I know

she is really worried.

They have been unable to get his heart 

medications

regulated and it has caused them both 

a lot of anxiety and unrest.

Gert is staying as upbeat 

and positive as she can---

but she is worried.

Please send them both prayers

(or well-wishes if you don't pray)

for health well-being,

and peace of mind.

This was taken at the 

Halloween party at the hospital

this year.

Aren't they cute?

GET WELL, TOM!

We are all rooting for you!


I still have a houseful of family

here for the weekend so will be

scare until tomorrow sometime.

I'll be back..

so you better be praying for Tom

and THAT is a threat!

ARTICHOKE DIP FOR DUMMIES...OR Three Ingredient Artichoke Dip

This is a blast from the past.

I am lucky to have grandkids

that will eat almost anything.

So.....

What sounds like a fun treat?

Artichoke Dip!

Seriously!?

Yep!  Seriously---Artichoke Dip!

source

All you need is:

 1 can of water packed artichokes.

1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup of mayo.

(and I sometimes add a dash of 

garlic powder-making it 

Artichoke Dip for IDIOTS instead)

AND- I usually bake this until it is

browned on the top and bubbly.

20 mins max at 350 degrees.

 Chop the artichokes.

Stir in the Parmesan and mayo.

Heat for 5 minutes in the microwave on high.

or put into a mini crock pot

and heat through.

I served this with crackers this time

but I usually serve it with french bread pieces.

So, how did the kids fare that will

"eat almost anything"?

You will notice we are eating in our

Princess clothes.

Thing One

says:

ART - AH - CHOKE

It makes you want to CHOKE when

 
you eat it!

Thing Two

The "bride" didn't like it much either.

Yeah...

Welcome to the real world, Nana. 

What's this?

Even Rosetta looks a little stunned!

Never fear-

Nothing wasted here.

MyHero polished it off.

I have a houseful of people here

this weekend.

I may not be able to visit much

so cut me a little slack, will ya?

You know I am thinking about

y'all anyway!

ps.  Don't CHOKE on the ARTICHOKE!

FINISH IT UP FRIDAY---FIVE FOTOS FOR FUN~and a couple of OLD SECRETS

I can hardly believe it

but I am getting my photo files

all cleaned up doing this

Finish it up Friday thing.

When I search for photos to use here

I am deleting some and moving others 

into their proper storage folders.

Whoo Hooo.

SO!

What is up this week?

MY LITTLE STAR---RIA

is off to a dance competition in 

Chicago.

She always takes a prize.

She is the most graceful little girl 

I have ever seen.

Even when not dancing

she moves like a dancer.

Isn't she a beauty...

with a little SASS thrown in for fun.

Makes me want to cut hearts out of leaves

when I look at her.

Don't you love this idea!?!

I HEART this little guy, too.

This old dollhouse sits under a covered "porch"

on the front part of our garage.

CJK- is fascinated by it and always checks it

to see if "fairies" are inside.

He KNOWS they are there.

On my side porch off the dining room

I have a glass topped table & chair set

 I bought from my

neighbor years ago.

I pull the cushions off it for winter

and it starts looking bare.

But-who says that a 

FRUIT CENTERPIECE 

won't work outside?

AND if you use fake faux fruit

you won't get "critters" eating them.

I send them  next door to eat the 

neighbor's pumpkins.  

I am a good neighbor that way.

Speaking of FRUIT---

Have you seen this little "trick"

on the internet somewhere?

Is that cute or what?

Cutie-pie clementines

with a piece of celery for the stalk.

source unknown

Well, there's my FIVE photos--

of course #1 counted as THREE pictures, 

I suppose.

I never was very good at 

FOLLOWING THE RULES

and I have the deportment remarks on my

old report cards to prove it.

I blame my father for that...

hey---gotta blame somebody.

He was a smart-aleck, too.

This is a TRUE STORY!

When I missed school I 

ALWAYS wrote my own excuses to turn in 

to the teacher in charge of truancy.

ONE DAY

I asked my MOM to write my excuse for me

because I was in a hurry.

When I turned it in they called HER 

to see if I had 

FORGED MY EXCUSE.

SHE was MAD at ME

for that!

Seriously?!?!???

Maybe if you are 

REALLY GOOD I will tell you about

the time I tipped over backwards in

Accounting class and my

full skirt and can-can

went up over my head.

I blame Charlie Watson for that!

He put his feet against the legs of my chair

when I went to push my chair back 

to stand up.

Pfffffttttt...

Mrs. Harkness never liked me anyway.

She liked me even less after 

THAT INCIDENT.

IN MOTION! Moving and More

This is just too cute to 

keep to myself.

A few of you know that 

my daughter has moved into a new/old  home.

She has the cutest little den in this house.

She painted the heavy old pine wood 

with a creamy white paint and found 

a down-filled couch, chair, a new rug

and accessories for the room.

It is comfortable and the kids like

spending time in there.

She found a piece that 

SweetCheeks drew when she was 

six years old.

It was for a school project and is titled

MOTION (or MOVING)

Ready?

Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen?

Notice the arrows pointing which way they are moving?

I told my daughter that is a 

REAL TREASURE!

Good job, SweetCheeks!!!!

She would have been in 1st grade.

Gotta love those dimples like her Daddy has!

Don't you just love dimples?

I do...

welll---except.....

  You don't want to see 

MY DIMPLES!

Trust me!

If I can twist my daughter's arm

I will show you some pictures of her new home.

She has great taste!

Have a great Thursday!

A SERIOUS POST! SERIOUSLY!!!!! It's about the BIG C WORD!

See this little girl?

Well, that is the ONLY cute thing in this post!

image-unknown

You know I don't talk about

serious issues often, right?

I don't like controversy so I don't 

promote my religious beliefs 

OR 

my political beliefs

OR 

post my opinions on controversial subjects

on my blog.

BUT TODAY

I want to talk about the 

DREADED COLONOSCOPY!

As Joan Rivers used to say...

Can we talk?

I am many years past the time when

I should have had my first one.

Finally, my doctor, 

bless her little black-spirited heart said-

GO GET YOUR COLONOSCOPY DONE IDIOT

(the idiot was implied).

Let me just say-

I cancelled my appointment 

SEVERAL TIMES.

I won't tell you how many because it is downright

EMBARRASSING.

You know what is 

NOT EMBARRASSING?

Having a colonoscopy!

I was prepared for the worst.

I simply DREADED the PREP 

that was coming.

Guess what?

It was NOT AS BAD as I thought

it was going to be.

The worst part was drinking 

"the koolaid".

There are two kinds:

The kind you mix with a gallon of water

OR 

The Elmer's Glue awful stuff that comes in 2 bottles

to which you add a cup of water .

I had the Elmer's Glue awful stuff.

THAT was the worst part for me-

getting that down.

The bathroom "end of it all" was not 

nearly as bad as I expected.

No cramping or miserableness

just a feeling of

GOTTA GO...and you GO!

After "drinking the koolaid" 

I was still able to sleep about 5 or 6 hours

in one stretch the night before the procedure.

Crazy, huh?

The morning of the procedure

you check in and they give you a relaxant

and then you can opt to watch the procedure

IF YOU WANT TO...

otherwise they will give you something to make

you forget the whole procedure.

MyHero wanted to be PUT UNDER and has 

NO MEMORY of anything happening at all.

I opted to be awake.

I was awake when they discovered a

WALNUT SIZED POLYP.

I was awake when they took it out and

sent it off to be biopsied.

I was awake when they sent me home with

instructions not to lift anything more than 

TEN POUNDS for TWO WEEKS.

Seriously?

My left ankle weighs more than that!

Anyway,

I got the news yesterday that the biopsy is

ALL CLEAR-NO CANCER.

Whoo-Hooo.

NO BIG C FOR ME!

Now here's the

REALLY FUN PART.

I get to go back in 

THREE YEARS 

and do this all over again.

Let me just urge you-

IF you have NOT had this done--

and are at the age 
when you should have had it done--
please do it.

Had the polyp been malignant

I would have had a very good chance

that it was contained and treatable.

Don't let embarrassment or fear

stand in your way.

If I can do this -YOU can do this!

Now- PICK UP THAT PHONE

and call to make your appointment!

NANA SAYS SO!

Ummmm-that being said 

I WILL NOT
be wearing this T-shirt!

Have a great day---

and PLEASE make that appointment!

I DID THE WHOLE30 Food Plan for 30 DAYS & A HEALTHY APPLE "DESSERT"

On October 1st,

MyHero and I embarked on a new food plan.

Whole30!

You can read all about it by clicking the link HERE.

You CAN eat things like THIS!

I lost 14 pounds in 30 days!

THAT is the BONUS!

My Hero lost 8 pounds

BUT.

he had already been "dieting" 

before starting this program.

To me-this was a no-brainer.

It has been touted as reducing inflammation

and being a healthy way of eating.

I have GAINED much more than I lost!

I have inflammatory arthritis and 

I ALWAYS ache-

some days are worse than others.

After following this food plan

I have almost NO ACHES!

I would not have believed that was possible,

but it has been/is!

I also lost ALL CRAVINGS for 

SUGAR, FLOUR & DAIRY.

That, too, is unbelievable to me.

This is not for everyone 

and I am not one of  those people

that say-

THIS is what you SHOULD do.

You are a smart person 

and can make up your own mind.

Personally---We have decided to stay on the 

WHOLE30  another 30 days!

One of the "treats" that got me through

is this one:

I have one of those apple slicers/corers.

I slice & core the apple,

drop it in a small custard dish,

drop a few pecans in the center,

top with a teaspoon of clarified butter,

sprinkle cinnamon (or apple pie spice) on it

and then microwave it for about one minute.

It is WONDERFUL! 

This one has a sprinkle of Truvia (Stevia) on it, too.

Let me just say--

If I can do this---anyone can!

Trust me!

What SAVED me is the fact that I could have all the

BLACK COFFEE

 I wanted....and that is how I drink it!

Have a great day-

I'll be over serving the ol' boys at the VA!

Romantic Homes Post-

I tried to sneak this in before the end of

OCTOBER

but I moved my scanner and lost my 

WiFi connection to it.

Wah-Wah-Wah.

Well, I went old school and

PLUGGED HER IN.

So, this is from the 

OCTOBER 2015 ISSUE

of

 Romantic Homes-

and is NOT Halloween-y.

It is all about FALL!

Opening the pages you will find this

APPLE TREAT

that looks like a rose.

Wouldn't this be fun to serve at the end of 

a Fall meal?

Diane Sedo/ Jickie Torres

Rosemary Cathcart is featured this month

and has the most amazing collection of lace

I think I have ever seen!

Her blog is here.

JoAnne Coletti/Helen Cathcart

Jeanette Feather has some beautiful antiques

and look at the soft palette here.

Liselotte/Gonkel/Stegeman/DecorImages

Here is a shot of the bathroom at her place.

I thought this was a great 

do-it-yourself fix-up for 

those blah looking 

BI-FOLD DOORS

many homes have in closets and halls.

Melinda Graham

The cover this month is an unusual one for 

Romantic Homes.

It is bold and bright with color-

but I kind of like it for Fall.

Did I get paid for doing this?

NOPE!

But I just love doing it.

It is one of the few magazine I continue to subscribe to.

I don't get paid for 

WASHING DISHES EITHER

but I do it anyway!

My dishes talk.....do yours?

cartoonstock.com

That would be especially true in

MY HOME!

Hope you all have a 

WONDERFUL MONDAY!

GOOD-BYE HALLOWEEN! Hello Sign Winner &Happy Birthday to my Son-In-Law!

Time to pack away the

BLACK CATS

and say 

GOOD-BYE to HALLOWEEN!

Time to pack away the

HALLOWEEN COSTUME

that my son so lovingly made for little CJK.

CJK wanted to be a BOAT---

NOT A SAILOR 

Nope!  A BOAT!

As you can see, he is pretty happy with

the boat his Daddy made him.

(I overlaid his real name with 

CJK'S Lil' Boat)

And he can walk around in it.

So-

GOOD-BYE HALLOWEEN!

HELLO- SIGN WINNER!

Kim- Exquisitely Unremarkable-

I need your address and this is 

Your Sign!

 Hope you like it!

If you don't know Kim-go visit HERE.
She is a great person!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone

that entered and signed up to 

follow the kids on Facebook and Etsy.

I wish they could send

EVERYONE A SIGN

but they won't let me

the brats!

Thanks again and I hope you have a 

GREAT SUNDAY!

We will probably do this again

in Spring with another giveaway.

Meanwhile, please look at their site

79north 

and consider a sign for a 

Christmas or Birthday present 

for someone you love.

Speaking of Birthdays!
Happy, Happy Birthday to my wonderful
SON-IN-LAW   -  Big J!
Love you, buddy!

Did you remember to set your clocks back?

And you thought I never posted pictures

of myself and my dog!