Speeding Corvette

A senior citizen drove his brand new Corvette convertible out of the dealership. Taking off down the road, he floored it to 80 mph,enjoying the wind blowing through what little hair he had left.

"Amazing," he thought as he flew down I-90, pushing the pedal even more. Looking in his rear view mirror, he saw a state trooper behind him, lights flashing and siren blaring. He floored it to 100 mph, then 110, then 120. Suddenly he thought, "What am I doing? I'm too old for this," and pulled over to await the trooper's arrival.

Pulling in behind him, the trooper walked up to the Corvette, looked at his watch and said, "Sir, my shift ends in 30 minutes. Today is Friday. If you can give me a reason for speeding that I've never heard before, I'll let you go."

The old gentleman paused. Then said, "Years ago, my wife ran off with a State Trooper. I thought you were bringing her back."

"Have a good day, sir," replied the trooper...

Cute Blog Entry

Take a moment and stop by Nancy's Blog and see her darling pig picture & poem. I guarantee it will bring a smile to your face.
http://captnnancy.blogspot.com/

Snow Again Last Night

There's a little snow left on my sprouting rhubarb this morning but a little after 1 o'clock in the afternoon ~ it's warmed up to 45*.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday no matter what the weather. Until next time............Linda

Share A Laugh With Elvis

Squished (Elongated) Coins

I've had several emails about squished penny's and quarters, since I posted the picture of the quarter that Betty made for me at Disneyland. Here's the story, complete with locations all over the world of the machines that will do this for you. See Penny Collector at; http://www.pennycollector.com/index.html

FOOD FRIDAY

This would be a good salad for Easter Sunday. My mom made this for most special occasions when I was a kid.

Glorified Rice
Cook and cool 2 cups Minute Rice. In a bowl mix; one 11 ounce can mandarin oranges (drained), some sliced maraschino cherries, one 15 ounce can of crushed pineapple (drained), cooked & cooled rice and one container of Cool Whip. For an extra treat~just before serving fold in two large bananas, cut into bite size pieces.

Pictures From the Skier and a Surprise in the Mail

Bob was able to get a few hours of skiing in again today. He went to a ski resort called Crystal Mountain up near our beautiful Mt Rainier. I'm just posting a few of the beautiful sights he was able to capture today. Since I don't ski, this is how I get to see the views that he sees from the slopes.

Below is a picture of Mt Rainier. He said it looked like a big ice cream cone from up on top of the ski area.

When I got the mail today there was an envelope from Koda's Betty mixed in amongst the other stuff. I hurried into the house and opened it and was thrilled to see a squished quarter that she got for me during a recent visit to Disneyland. I was so excited !!! My first squished quarter !!!! I have been getting squished penny's for my son in law for several years, and just last year decided to start collecting them myself too. So I have a pretty good collection started from the places we have visited, plus a couple that Robin has sent me from Florida. So I want to take this opportunity to thank Betty for this very special gift. I've already ordered a squished quarter collector's book. Thank you, thank you !!! And Robin thank you again for the two you've sent me.

When I was a kid, I had a whole bunch of elongated penny's ~ but like some of those other treasures from my childhood....they seem to have disappeared.

Tonight's a big night on TV. The 'American Idol' elimination show and 'The Office.' Have a good evening....until next time, Linda

A BLAST FROM MY PAST

When I was in high school I especially loved the country-western music of that time. I remember seeing in person Johnny Cash, Lefty Frizzell and other western singers. Lefty recorded some great songs and among them was 'The Long Black Veil.' I heard it the other day for the first time in probably 25 years (thanks Jimmy) and could not believe that I still remembered the words like I'd just heard it yesterday. (Why can't I remember what I learned in History class~maybe they should have put it to music.) Anyway, some of you younger readers may think this is a bit weird but this was a good old country western song from the 1950's.

Catching up on Monday

I know it's been awhile since I did a regular entry. I've been busy but also last week was sort of a bummer week for me. Cleaning and putting Gabi's stuff away was a sad chore. But it's done now. Then my mom's 94th birthday would have been on St Patrick's Day and that really hit me hard this year. Maybe it was because Gabi hadn't even been gone a week yet.

Last Friday Barbara and I traveled across town for the regularly scheduled 'Third Fridays at Noon' organ concert at Christ Church, Episcopal. The musician last Friday was Dr Dana Robinson, Professor and Head of the Organ Department at the University of Illinois. At this time this church is housing a beautiful 18th Century Baroque Organ made in Italy in approximately 1750. A local man bought the organ from a German restorer and completed the restoration, including a new electric bellows (the original rope-pull one is still there) he contacted the church's music director to see if the organ could be stored at the church until a buyer is found. This beautiful organ has just four octaves and no pedals.

This gold-embellished, redwood-carved instrument would have been the smallest church organ possible in 18th century Italy. It's just 2 feet deep and houses 241 self-contained pipes. Even so, the sound is magnificent! This is the second time I've heard this organ played and I guess until a buyer comes along, it will remain in this church to be enjoyed by many. The Brombaugh Organ (1979) below is the regular organ in this church. It too has a magnificent sound. These 50 minute, once a month concerts feature classical music. Even though I don't listen to strictly classical music, I've enjoyed the two lunch time concerts I've attended. Friday, late afternoon Bob and I headed across the Narrow's Bridge to his place out in the wilderness. By wilderness I mean, no Broadband Internet and no cable TV.

Friday evening, we were able to watch an interesting program on a PBS station about a couple of American guys who retraced the route of Marco Polo and Saturday evening we watched the VHS version of 'Romancing the Stone.' It was good, neither one of us had seen it for years. I couldn't use his computer to access my AOL account because he still has dial-up and I don't. Even as a 'guest' on someone else's computer, that won't work unless you're paying for dial up too. We did create a screen name for me on his account but then his computer is so old and so slow, I got fed up and just logged off. It took me 20 minutes to get into my eBay account. That was too much for me.

Saturday afternoon, the weather actually turned Spring like for a few hours and we were able to get some work done in his yard. We pruned his huge hydrangea and several azalea's. It was a nice several hours of being outside (with no jacket on), hearing the birds sing and getting something accomplished.

About 3pm we got in the car and headed over to Bremerton to have a late lunch/early dinner. Bremerton is the home of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. As we came into town there were several large aircraft carriers anchored in the harbor.

The U.S.S. Missouri was here before it was moved to Hawaii and we had the privilege of touring it several times before she left here. After we ate (Chinese & was it ever good!) we went down the street to the local Goodwill. I discovered earlier in the week that I was missing some books from the Jan Karon 'Mitford Series' I've been reading. I was almost thru reading book 5 but I didn't have book 6..so I told Bob, "maybe I can find it at the G.W." I actually needed books #6 & #8 in order to complete the series of 9 books. Guess what ? I walked in the store, went directly to the Book Section and there they were ~in hardback, with beautiful dust covers and in perfect condition for $2.99 each. What a steal! I was thrilled. The Goodwill gets a lots of new books donated by Target and other stores after they've been on the shelf for a period of time or if they have an overstock of certain books. Anyway, I left there a happy camper.

Sunday afternoon we headed back to civilization and it was good to be back at my place with a ga-zillion channels on the TV and lightening fast Internet service.

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your kind words of sympathy at the loss of my little angel Gabi. I've received cards and emails~ so many of them. And each one has been so special to me. I'm still really missing her little self...her passing has left a huge hole in my heart and life. Those of us who have pets and love them, bring them into our homes and hearts and when they pass....we feel a tremendous loss. I think it will be quite a while before I open my home and heart to another cat. In looking back there have been 5-6 year gaps in between my past cats, so it may be that long again......or not. Time will tell.

Tuesday is movie day for Barbara and I. We're planning to go see "Duplicity" with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen. We haven't been to the movie for several weeks as there hasn't really been anything we wanted to see.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I'm looking forward to 'Dancing With The Stars' and my regular line up TV shows this week. Have a good week, Linda

FOOD FRIDAY

Salmon Enchiladas (serve with green salad)

one 14.75 ounce can pink salmon, drained & bones removed
one 4 ounce can mild, diced green chilies
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1-1/2 cups low fat sour cream
1-1/2 cups shredded, low fat cheddar cheese
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 flour tortillas
8 tablespoons low fat cream cheese
1-1/2 cup enchilada sauce or salsa picante

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Mix first seven ingredients in a large bowl, reserving 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese.
3. Place approximately 1/2 cup of the filling down the center of each tortilla and top each with 1 teaspoon cream cheese.
4. Fold tortilla over filling from each end and each side to enclose filling and place, seam side down in oiled 9" x 13" baking dish.
5. Pour enchilada sauce to cover tortillas and cover with foil.
6. Bake approximately 45 minutes until sauce is bubbling and enchiladas are slightly browned. Remove foil, sprinkle reserved cheddar cheese on top and return to oven for about 5 minutes.


I got this recipe from the hospital a couple weeks ago~it's supposed to be a heart healthy meal.

Cold, snowy, wet & windy Sunday

Woke up again this morning to snow. It turned into a very cold rain & snow combination. Bob wanted to take a run out to his house so we headed out there around 12:30pm. His place is about 30 miles north-west of here. As we got closer the snow on the ground got deeper and deeper but by then it was hailing.

I took the above picture as we drove along Highway 16 just after crossing the Narrows Bridge. Once we got to his place, the front field was so pretty....covered in several inches of fresh snow.

The house and front yard was also covered as was his smaller Nissan pick up.

I had heard on the news this morning that the temps would rise but the wind would kick up and by the time we were heading back into town...it was very windy. Going across the Narrows Bridge in a strong wind is so much fun. It's hard to even keep your car in the right lane.

After a stop at Trader Joe's for a gallon of milk and some dried cranberries, we stopped at Target. My older HP digital camera is starting to act up. I love it because it has a view finder as well as the screen in the back to look thru. I've discovered, however that unless you have a view finder it's hard to get a good picture, especially in the bright sun. I've been looking at this little pink number at Target. One of Sony's last year models so is drastically reduced in price. I finally decided to buy one. I'm not sure how it's going to work, however.....it doesn't take regular batteries, there's special battery pack that has to be recharged. When traveling, we don't always have access to electricity. Plus it takes a special memory card. But it's so cute, I'll try it for awhile and see how I like it.

Well now the sun is out right this moment but the western sky is black and the wind is really howling. I'd like to start a fire in the woodstove but it's always difficult when the wind is blowing. The smoke blows right back into the house.

That's all for now.....hope you all have had a wonderful weekend. Linda

Did you know?

1. Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little "stringy things" off of it. That's how the primates do it.
2. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
3. Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!
4. Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
5. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.
6. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.
7. To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
8. For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.
9. Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.
10. Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!
11. Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm. This keeps the crust crispy. No soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.
12. Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg. Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.
13. When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.
14. To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.
15. Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and for-get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic they will not get through wet newspapers.
16. If you have broken a glass, use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.
17. Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.
18. To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.
19. To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.
20. Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone.
21. Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.
22. Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car When the window s fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!
23. If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.
24. Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.
25. To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2" with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!
26. Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it "home," can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
27. The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter.. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well ... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months.. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?!

WOW UP TO 58* TODAY !

But....the TV weather guys are claiming that another cold front is moving into the Pacific northwest that will bring moisture and cold air. And that there is a possibility of more snow Sunday afternoon into Monday.

I was just outside cleaning up the little area between my two storage sheds. I store my garden tools there and by this time every year it's full of leaves and other debris that get sucked in there during the fall & winter months. I found another pot in there with bulbs growing so rescued it from it's very dry location and put it out on the patio so it will get some moisture. I still haven't hooked up my garden hoses and the outdoor faucets are still covered to prevent them from freezing. So I gave that dry pot a some water from the house and I'm sure Mother Nature will water it this weekend.

I ventured over to the Vet's office to settle up with them, have him finish filling out the insurance papers and get Gabi's carrier. I also took the case of special food back & they gave me a credit for that. They told me that my son in law had stopped by and paid some on the bill and taken the carrier. Bless his heart !! I guess he knew it would be painful for me to pick up the carrier right now. I've got all the paperwork ready to mail into PetCare Pet Insurance and it will be interesting to see how much they reimburse me. I didn't get to talk to the vet today, but I guess it doesn't matter. There's nothing he can tell me now that will bring her back. I've washed her pink blanket and cleaned up all her dishes, etc. and put them away. I love cats, I will probably have another one some day, but not now. I know some go out and get a pet replacement right away but I've never been able to do that. We had a dear little dog when my son was little and I was the one that had to take him in that final time. That was back in the 1980's and I've never had another dog. There's just not another dog like Frisky.

Today I got a pet sympathy card in the mail from the Vet's office along with the picture of Gabi they had. They all loved her because she was the only one of her kind in their practice. Plus she never hissed or tried to bite them like some cats do when they see the Vet.

I want to again thank Possum S Hemmingway and his slave Jimmy for their tributes plus kind & loving words this week. Also Sugar, Robin and the many others who have sent words of sympathy. You have no idea how much they have comforted me. Sugar made a beautiful tag of Gabi which I have added to my sidebar. If you loose a pet, be sure and contact Sugar. She has established a pet loss Blog called 'Our Beloved Pets'. She will be happy to add your pet to this Blog if you wish.

I'm still enjoying the beautiful flowers that Monica brought to me in the hospital last Friday evening, purchased with contributions from my Bloggerville friends. They are just as beautiful today as they were last week. Thank you all again.

Well, I guess that's all for now....I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

FOOD FRIDAY

I know I've posted this recipe before but it's Spring and time to post it again. My mom's family lived in eastern Washington during the Depression years and they never went hungry. My grandmother was a great, innovative cook. This is one of her recipes. At that time asparagus grew like weeds and was plentiful. I'm finding fresh, tender asparagus in the store now and it's fairly inexpensive. This dish was a regular at family dinners when I was growing up. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Grandma Stern's Escalloped Asparagus
1-2 lbs asparagus (washed & hard ends removed)
12 soda crackers crumbled or bread crumbs
4 or 5 hard boiled eggs (sliced)
grated cheese
2 cups medium white sauce **

Butter casserole dish & layer asparagus and sliced hard boiled eggs. After all ingredients are layered, pour on white sauce and top with crumbled soda crackers or bread crumbs & sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake about 25-30 mins at 325*

** medium white sauce- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, 2 tablespoons flour, dash of salt and 1 cup milk (evaporated milk makes a richer sauce) In a microwave able 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup; melt butter for 30 seconds, stir in flour and salt…blending to make a paste. Add milk gradually, stopping to stir mixture every few seconds. Cook for at least 1 minute , stir, cook another
1 ½ to 2 ½ minutes longer, stopping to stir every 30 seconds until mixture boils. Stir well after removing from microwave .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SOMEONE SPECIAL !

Today, March 12th is the birthday of someone very special.....

He lives on the east coast....

He's a retired actor.....

Yes folks...today is the ___th birthday of our friend DB of Vagabond Journeys...



Please stop by and wish him a wonderful day http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/

Gabi Lin

I had no clue she was so sick ~ however last week I noticed some subtle changes in her behavior, but thought it was because I was away from her when I was in the hospital. But her Vet said this has probably been coming on for sometime. Her lab work was all over the charts....none of it normal. After taking her over to the Vet's office today, I came home and eventually went to my dentist appointment. When I got home I called the office and he came on the phone and told me about the grossly abnormal lab work, and that they were having difficulty bringing her out of the light sedation they gave her to do the labs. He said she had almost complete renal failure as well as the continuing intestinal blockage. In my heart, I knew the answer to my next question~ "Can you do anything for her?" He gently told me "no." I told him that I hated to let her go but I didn't want her to suffer. He wanted to know if I wanted to come & tell her goodbye and I told him I already did that this morning when I dropped her off. You see every time I left her, even go to the store, I'd give her our 'special' hug and tell her 'I'll be back in a little while.'

She's been with me for 3-1/2 years, rescued from the streets of Seattle, obviously abandoned or lost. However, no one ever claimed her from the multitude of ads that were placed in all the Seattle papers. I gave her lots of love and TLC but she gave me more.

Of all the cats I've had.....none of them affected me as much as this little one has. However, I was very close to my son's beautiful Siamese, Tuffy, who was also lost to renal failure from Diabetes. He was such a sweet guy. And when ever my son would go away, Tuffy would stay with me, because he had to have insulin shots every 12 hours. When he passed, I was with my son, so he wouldn't have to be alone in his grief. He was here with me this afternoon.

I take comfort in knowing she's crossed the Rainbow Bridge and is whole and well, playing with Tuffy, Raisin, and all the other cats and dogs that have gone before her.

I received so many emails this afternoon....thank you so much.......Linda

Rest in peace my little Gabi, I will always love you....................

COMMUNITY PHOTO CHALLENGE~BIRDHOUSES

The birds that annually occupy my red, white and blue birdhouse come from military, I'm sure. I have lots of birdhouses and this one causes more problems than any of the others. It seems like every Spring there's a World War II type battle for occupancy. It's started already and we're still having cold temps, even snow here in western Washington. This one hangs on the center post of my carport and I enjoy watching them from my kitchen window.

Tuesday

A beautiful sunny day here today, the temperature only got up to about 43* but there was no more snow. I just told DB in an email that if I never see another snowflake it will be too soon. I remember back in March of 1955 when we had traveled to southern California for a two week vacation, we arrived back in town around my mom's birthday (March 17th) and there was snow on the ground and some of the pipes in the house had frozen and cracked, causing flooding. What a mess for my folks to come back to.....So snow in March is not totally unheard of here in western Washington. The only benefit I see, is that the tow trucks and body shops are getting lots of business plus this freezing weather is killing off lots of mosquito's and other pesky insects.

Barbara and I did not go to a movie today, there was really nothing we wanted to see. So she came over and I drove us out to the other end of town to our one & only Carl's Jr where we had a burger and then we went to Trader Joe's and did a little shopping. It was nice driving around on snow-free streets in the nice sunshine.

Gabi has sort of been off kilter since last week, so once I got home I took her to the Vet. He checked her out, including weighing her (she only weighs 3 lbs 3 ounces), they sold me some different moist food and hopefully she'll be good as new soon. He wants her at least between 5 and 6 pounds.

I loved 'Dancing With The Stars' last night. I think it's going to be a great season. The two gals that had to substitute for the two that were injured did a wonderful job for only having a few days to practice. They are very brave for stepping in at the last minute like that. Now the next two nights it's on with 'American Idol.'

Well that's all for now.....hope everyone is having a good week so far.

Until next time, Linda

How's Your Weather ?

There was a little snow when I went to bed last night so I wasn't surprised this morning when I looked out my front window. Those twigs in the picture below are some of my rose bushes. They've got lots of new growth so I hope this cold weather doesn't do a number on them. This is a view from the front room out into the front yard. The big cedar tree is covered as is the rhododendron in front of the window. I didn't go outside to take these pics....shot them thru the window. I'll be staying in today.

Blog Hopping~Have You Tried It?

I think I've uncovered a mystery. If you have a Neo-Counter on your Blog you'll notice that there's a lot of visits from countries other than the U.S., England and Canada. I think people are Blog Hopping. If you'll notice at the top of your Blog, you see the words "NEXT BLOG".......if you click on that you can travel thru the world wide Bloggerville. I was sitting at my computer doing that a couple weeks ago and found some interesting Blogs, for sure. I found a young lady in Brazil who's cat had just passed away and a lady here in the U.S. who makes beautiful quilts. Many of them are written in a foreign language and of course you can't understand a word of what they've written. The gal in Brazil had written hers in English and Portuguese so I was of course able to read the English portion. So, I've concluded that all these unusual visits to your Blog may be people from other countries who have clicked that "NEXT BLOG" button and stopped by to visit. Now if we could just get them to leave a comment. I did leave comments on the two Blogs I hopped to, by the way.

Below are the beautiful carnations that Monica brought to me in the hospital. The colors are outstanding. I love the lavender & purple.
This is the other arrangement that Monica brought. Very, very pretty with greenery, roses, red carnations, Lilly's and Gerber daisies. This whole arrangement is predominately in red tones. Just breath taking !! Thank you all so much.

These little sweeties are blooming on my porch. They are little Tete-a-Tete daffodils. I just love them and actually have them blooming in several places.

After a week of cold & windy days, today we are having sun, snow, rain, hail, sun, snow, rain & hail. At 3:30pm in the afternoon the temperature has risen clear up to 41* F. I'm so happy for my cheerful little daffodils on the porch~they give me hope that we will have Spring sometime soon.

I'm feeling pretty good since coming home late Friday evening. Just still a little tired. I have done some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and tried to catch up on reading Blogs. Monday morning, I'll call my primary doctor and make a follow up appointment. The doctor in the hospital that saw me Friday evening looked over my medications, etc and thought I was doing everything right. And the Echo results showed nothing amiss. I've had episodes like that in the past~where my blood pressure and pulse rate suddenly shot up, but that was when I was still working and going thru a lot of stressful times at work. In fact the last time I had one & went into the E.R. was in January 2007 just a couple weeks before I retired. So this one came out of the blue....while doing dishes Thursday morning. Hopefully, this will never happen again.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend and again......I thank each & everyone of you for your prayers, good thoughts and kinds words.....you are all very special. Linda

DON'T FORGET

Daylight savings time starts in the United States tonight. So before you go to bed....turn your clocks forward one hour. This is also a good day to replace the batteries in your smoke detectors.

Remember~ Spring forward and Fall back.

I'm Home !

I'm home from the hospital. I was finally discharged about 9:00pm tonight by the time all the paper work was completed, it was shortly after 10pm when I actually arrived home to a kitty that has eaten next to nothing since I left here Thursday about 11:30am. Bob put food out for her but she wouldn't eat....

Monica came to the hospital this evening with two bouquets of beautiful flowers....which came from my dear friends in Bloggerville. Thanks to Monica for coming up to see me and thanks to all of you for your prayers & kind thoughts sent my way.

I have a ton of emails & I won't be able to get to them tonight but will read them this weekend. I'm absolutely exhausted....someone was in my room doing something about every 45 minutes last night and today so I got very little rest. Tonight I feel like I've been in Jimmy's Area 51 for about 7 days~non stop.

By the way in case you think I worked some sort of magic....I actually did my Food Friday entry for today a couple weeks ago. I just wrote it and scheduled it to post this morning.

Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart!

FOOD FRIDAY

Pork Chop Casserole

one 6 ounce package of long grain & wild rice mix

2 cups hot water

four-six 1/2 inch thick pork chops (trimmed)

one can of condensed Cream of Mushroom soup (undiluted)

1/2 cup milk

Combine rice, seasoning packet from rice mix & hot water. Stir thoroughly and pour into 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Place pork chops on the rice mixture. Cover and bake for 1 hour at 350*. Meanwhile combine Cream of Mushroom soup and 1/2 cup of milk, stirring well. At the end of the 1 hour baking time, uncover pork chops and cover with soup mixture. Bake uncovered casserole for another 15-20 minutes or until heated through.

Mandolin Rain

I will be humming this song for days, I found this version on YouTube. Not Scott's version but he did an amazing job and I hope he goes far on American Idol.

You Have To Be Older To Remember These......

Yesterday, we (the gals from my high school graduating class) had another potluck luncheon. One of the gals brought her old scrapbook and she had the page from the paper that featured a picture of our 1960 high school graduating class. That was fun to see and I've borrowed it & made some copies.....but another interesting thing was the ads in this section of newspaper.

For instance; Geraniums, 3 inch pot for 19 cents each, hanging Fuchsia baskets for 98 cents each and a Stratolounger for $89.88.

One of the things that really caught my eye was this ad for a Spindrier.

My mom had one of these. It was the first washing machine she had after the wringer washing machine. It was a real big deal when this came into our utility room. It not only washed & rinsed the clothes but then spun them , so it didn't take them a long time to dry. Much like our washing machines do today. Although this had to be filled with water and drained into a laundry tub. We did not have an electric dryer so it was important for them to have lots of the wash/rinse water spun out of them. We had indoor clothes lines in the attic (dad made a stairway out of the utility room up to the attic and there were ceiling lights up there. It was like a big empty room with just clothes lines) and of course there outdoor lines for fair weather drying.

Like I said, only the older readers may remember these contraptions. In 1962 when my daughter was a baby, my first washing machine was a wringer washer, along with laundry tubs in the garage, with clothes lines outside and wooden dryer racks all over the house for bad weather drying. Today I feel blessed to have a wonderful washer & dryer inside my house, convenient anytime of the day or night.

P.S.~After reading Gerry's comment I remembered that in 1960 while living in my first apartment, my room mate & I either hauled our laundry about 10 blocks to a laundromat or used a scrub board that my grandmother had given me, in our bath tub to wash our clothes. That's when I bought the first of my wooden drying racks.

GOLDEN GIRLS

For those of who who loved the "Golden Girls' ~they are running a 'Golden Girls" marathon on the Hallmark Channel today. I understand there's going to be 18 hours of this great old TV show running today.

SQUISHED PENNY'S

Actually they are called "elongated" penny's but I just like saying the word "squish." LOL ! There are also machines for squishing dimes and quarters too but I've never seen them. If you're interested in locations of machines that squish penny's just check out the following web site. It even shows International locations.

The Penny Collector web site will show you all the machines they are aware of.

When we go somewhere, I refer to this list and have even printed them out for the states we have visited. I was really hoping there would be one at Whistler, BC but there wasn't. And since we didn't go clear into Vancouver, BC I wasn't able to get one there.