90 Year Old Couple playing the piano at the Mayo Clinic

My friend Mary posted this on FaceBook, and I just had to share.  They are so full of life, this will give you a huge smile on this rainy Saturday…

Barefoot Contessa's Lemon Bars

Heads up ladies, these lemon bars are seriously, fantastic! I posted the recipe and the tweaks on Jan CAN Cook. This is a must try if you’re a lemon lover like the women in our family. THESE ARE INSANELY GOOD!!!!!!

Pioneer Woman and Saturday Morning, go together like coffee and cream

I haven’t enjoyed Saturday morning television this much since I was a kid in the 60’s, watching Fury and Sky King. I’m so glad that FoodNetwork was smart enough to bring this wonderful blogger to their network for all of her followers to enjoy.

I’m such a fan of Pioneer Woman. She’s a real person, she’s a mother, she works hard for her family, and I find her delightful. 9am is fast approaching, I’m off to my comfy chair, coffee and cuddly dogs by my side to enjoy yet another episode.

You’re awesome Pioneer Woman, seriously you are!

Moving forward with life after sixty…

I linked to a a post from Facebook this morning by Barbara Hannah Grufferman about decluttering your life after fifty, and it started me thinking about the things that I hold on to, and how they clutter my life.  And here I am, past sixty and I still struggle with decluttering.

For me, it’s clothes.  I have tubs of size ten clothes, mostly jeans and capris that has been cluttering my life for years now.  It’s a lot of clothes, too, because at that size was shopping was fun. 

But that was ten years ago, and I will never be that size again, and even if I was, the clothes would be so outdated, so why do I hold on to them?  Is it because I need the affirmation that I really wore them?  It’s not like I ever take them out and look at them, so who knows, but it’s time to throw them in the trash.  A start to that decluttering.

My closet is full of clothes I never wear.  I live in yoga pants and jeans, I seldom dress up, I detest it, so why do I have these clothes hanging in my closet?  It’s time to declutter and get rid of a lot of things.

It’s such a wonderful feeling when your world is organized.  There is a saying that when you live in clutter, you live in chaos.  Well, everything in my world, thanks to hubby is organized, the man is a whirlwind.  And for as much grief as I give him about throwing things away, I’m really grateful, because he makes our life so simple.  He’s constantly going through the refrigerator, throwing away leftovers, he straightens the cabinets, he organizes drawers, he immediately pitches junk mail, it never comes in the house, he trashes it in the garage, and it does make things flow so much smoother.

The only thing he stays away from are my computers, my closet and my makeup, hence the clutter. And yes, the files on my computers are cluttered, well do a degree, they aren’t nearly as bad as they were a few years ago.  It just goes against my nature to do things in an orderly way, and I wish I had an organized mind, but I don’t, but I’ve learned a few things along the way.  I can’t handle things out of place in my house, a messy kitchen drives me wild, so I’ve learned to compensate for my unorganized mind.  I make myself put things away immediately when I use them, as I’ve said before, I work in the sink to avoid messes in the kitchen, I fluff the sofa pillows of a morning, I do a quick walk thru.  It doesn’t take long, and I’m finished, ready for whatever the day brings.  I’ve learned that procrastinating is worse than doing something and getting it over with, and of course I still procrastinate, most of us do, but I have learned for the most part to just push through and get it over with.

But in the back of my  mind, always is the thought that I need to declutter that closet, and dump those clothes.  I think I don’t do it because there won’t be anything left.  I seriously do wear 10% of my closet, and if I get rid of all the things I don’t wear, it will be pretty bare.  But I’m not procrastinating about this, I’m just holding on to the old, because I can’t face walking into my closet and seeing empty shelves, instead of looking ahead to the new.  And I’m not even going to start talking about buying new clothes, and how the manufacturers are missing the boat by not designing cute clothes for women in our age group, my friends and I complain constantly about this, and how we seldom find anything that we just love.  And a lot of it is due to the fact that we’ve not only grown older, we’ve grown wider.  But I won’t go there, not today, I’ve got enough to worry about with the decluttering.

A little reflecting going on in Heavensville this morning, but I seriously am going to declutter my world a bit this spring, I just have to get up the nerve to do it…

The sounds of silence...

It’s another gorgeous day, sunny skies, temps in the mid 50’s. I took a ride on Milly to the creek, just sat and listened to the water, no cell phone, no dogs, just utter silence. I seldom experience silence anymore, there is always noise at my house, television, music playing, phones ringing, it’s nice to reconnect with nature and enjoy the quiet.

Then I picked up my neighbor, Trish, her little London is such a poser, she just sits and lets her take pictures of her. And yes, she’s just as tiny as she looks, all three whopping pounds of her. My girls need haircuts, and it’s gorgeous outside, I should be grooming them, I should be…

Sometimes you just need to accept a gift gracefully….

I’ve blogged about my soon to be ninety four-year old neighbor before.  The woman is a whirlwind, she can work circles around me, and is a world class cook with as many, if not more, kitchen gadgets than yours truly.  She’s the one that gave me the fabulous recipe for German Potato Salad that I posted on Jan CAN Cook.

Something happened to my bundt pan, I suspect it’s at one of my son’s houses, but for the past couple of years I haven’t had one or replaced it, I just use my neighbors.  She has three bundt pans, but she always gives me the old, heavy aluminum one that bakes to perfection.  I’ve borrowed it countless times, always returning it with some home baked goodie that makes her eyes sparkle, and she always tells me to just keep it, but I never could do that, well, not until yesterday.

I had borrowed the bundt pan once again to make my yummy Lemon Cake Supreme, and hubby took it back with a plate of granola bars fresh from the oven.  She absolutely, positively refused to take it, telling him that she never bakes anymore and she wanted me to have it.  So he came home with it tucked under his arm, shaking his head because he couldn’t dissuade her.

And you know what, I’m keeping it.  It’s a wonderful pan, something that I obviously can’t duplicate with a new one, I’ve tried, and none of them are as heavy as hers, and she obviously wants me to have it, so I decided that sometimes you just have to write a nice thank you note, and accept a gift in the spirit it is given.  I’ll always think of her when I use it, it’s such a workhouse of a pan, it will never wear out.  She’s had it forever and now it sits on my shelf, waiting until the baking urge strikes me and I need to bake in a bundt pan again.  I’ll continue to share my baked goodies, and watch her eyes sparkle, and it will work for both of us.  It’s a good thing…

~ Jan, smiling today…

Do I read Nicholas Spark's Safe Haven or not???

I said I was finished with you, Nicholas Sparks. You’ve disappointed me constantly with your bad endings, I’ve cried enough tears over you, and now here is another one of your books that looks really interesting. Do I give you another chance or do I forget about you? Maybe, or maybe not, I haven’t decided yet.. ~ jan Description: When a mysterious young woman named Katie appears in the small North Carolina town of Southport, her sudden arrival raises questions about her past. Beautiful yet self-effacing, Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: one with Alex, a widowed store owner with a kind heart and two young children; and another with her plainspoken single neighbor, Jo. Despite her reservations, Katie slowly begins to let down her guard, putting down roots in the close-knit community and becoming increasingly attached to Alex and his family. But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts and terrifies her . . . a past that set her on a fearful, shattering journey across the country, to the sheltered oasis of Southport. With Jo's empathic and stubborn support, Katie eventually realizes that she must choose between a life of transient safety and one of riskier rewards . . . and that in the darkest hour, love is the only true safe haven.

When grandchildren go home...

It’s so quiet now, LC and I keep talking about Abby’s visit, remembering the cute things she said, and her infectious giggle when she was jumping on the bed. Of course she jumped on the bed, she’s at her grandparent’s house after all, she can do anything she wants.

I wish life was like it was in the old days, when families all lived nearby, and visits to Grammie’s house was a weekly occurrence. We went out for breakfast this morning, and I was talking to a grandmother who has all of her children in town. I was so jealous, and I’m not an envious person. *sigh* She’s just so sweet, I don’t want to miss a minute of her childhood.

But back to reality and another warm day, my friend Trish has phlox that are blooming, I just checked my chives in the garden, and I see green shoots peeking through the soil. I have spring fever and it’s not February yet. I’m glad to be finishing out this month, January has always been my least favorite time of the year, now I can look forward to Valentine’s Day and a hopefully early spring…

Trisha Yearwood is coming to FoodNetwork

Oh, this looks like fun, I love her cookbooks.

In the as-yet-untitled series, Yearwood will share food traditions and display her Southern hospitality, sharing recipes with friends and family and preparing Sunday dinners to planning family reunion barbecues. Each of the six themed episodes will invite viewers into Yearwood's kitchen for her favorite meals and family stories.

"Fans know Trisha best as a music powerhouse, and through her new Food Network show audiences will learn first-hand what her friends and family already know -- that Trisha is a talented, passionate rock-star cook too,” Food Network GM and senior vp programming and production Bob Tuschman said. "We look forward to sharing this side of Trisha with viewers, showcasing an intimate, entertaining look at her personal recipes, family traditions and warm Southern hospitality."

Look who’s been to visit Grammie…

I always thought I would be the Grammie that would  be in the kitchen with a little granddaughter, her hands in the cookie dough, but Abby isn’t interested in cookies, she would much rather be on Grammie’s computer, playing little games, watching Dora the Explorer.  It’s fine with me, I have two monitors, so Abby is on one, I’m on the other, we can sit here for hours.   She puts that little hand on the mouse, moving it around the desk, she hasn’t quite grasped the concept of how to work it, but I can put it on an object and tell her to click it, and she will.  If I would have had a few more days with her, she would have been surfing like a pro.

We visited the Children’s Museum for the first time.  She had a great time playing with the exhibits, and we just sat and watched her.  Oh, she’s at such a fun age now, she talks constantly, and says the funniest things. My girlfriends came to visit, and had such a fun time with her.  Her Auntie V taught her to say pink flamingo, and Auntie Trisher let her borrow a rocky horse to ride.

The weather was warm enough to go for rides on Milly, the owner of the Chinese restaurant where we ate at lunch gave her a dozen almond cookies to bring home, she looked at him and said “tanks.”


It just went too quickly, but we’re visiting again soon.


We were watching television in the den, she was on the iPad watching a little movie, so Grammie got the headset, put it over her ears, she loved it and we thought she looked so funny with those big headphones on.  She just cracked us up.











She likes to have her picture taken, says CHEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZ when the camera is pointed at her, but she squints her eyes, so all of her cheesy pictures have her eyes closed.

Oh Abby, what joy you bring to our lives.  Who would have thought at this age that I would see the world through the eyes of a child again.

It’s a beautiful thing...