This just might be the prettiest Autumnal picture ever...

 

Lawdee, have you looked thru your medicine cabinet lately???  Well, actually all of my meds are in containers on a shelf in my linen closet.  And since we did a major kitchen redo, which is a whole other blog, all of the meds that i had stuffed into one of those cabinets before the redo have been sitting in a box in my bathroom for a couple of weeks now, because yours truly has been at death's door with a bladder infection and didn't feel like going through them and pitching things, they just sat there, bugging me because I wasn't doing anything to remedy the situation.  Okay, so that's a stretch, I wasn't really at death's door, but I felt like death warmed over, as mother would say.

But I'm all better now, and those vials and potions weren't going to magically arrange themselves, so DH gladly threw everything on the bed for me this afternoon as I requested.   I say gladly, because he didn't want to wade through all that mess any more than moi.

And Ryan, who has always been really good about throwing away out of date drugs for me, is busy with dem babies and judging by the dates on the bottles, he hasn't gone through them since 2011.   And since it's a rainy, gloomy, humid, hot day in Heavensville, I just couldn't handle it any longer and I took a deep breath and started wading through the badzillions of bottles that were strewn across the bed, organizing and categorizing and throwing away the old stuff.   I was a virtual whirlwind filled with accomplishment.

And let me tell you, we have spent a small fortune since 2011 on cold/sinus/headache meds.  I had this whole tub of useless, outdated crap that I tossed.  I don't even want to try and count how many dollars it was.

That's the bad news, the good news is we obviously didn't need all that junk, or we would have had empty bottles, most of them were practically full!

And that's my day, surely yours was better than mine.

But wait, it's not all bad, no it isn't.  Actually it's a very good day because today is  my oldest son, John's, birthday.  Happy Birthday, Johnno!!!!!!  See you soon!!!!!!!!  XXO ~ Mom

Campbell's Soup for the Keurig

Cymbals crashing, lights flashing, hot damn, look what's coming next, Campbell Soup for your Keurig Coffee Maker!  Apparently you put the little Seasoned Chicken Broth K-Cup in the machine, brew it and then stir in the noodles, veggies, etc.

This is the ultimate for lazy people, and I'm thinking the price will probably be pretty ultimate, too!

But I'm a sucker for easy, and this would be a great snack.  Oh wait, I can't have noodles, I'm eating low carb.  Hubby will be thrilled I'm not on this bandwagon.  

But not so fast, even though Campbell Kitchens say they don't have nutritional information yet, I took out my magnifying glass, and even though I can't quite read it all, it appears calories are in the 100 calorie range, and carbs are single digit.   Sorry LC, looks like this might be a winner after all, so have you wallet ready  ;o)))

Tuesday morning topics...

 

I, along with the rest of the world am in awe of Diana Nyad.  It is simply unbelievable that she had the energy to accomplish swimming 110 miles in shark infested waters at sixty-four years old.   I don't have enough stamina to walk a mile, my friends and I are always bemoaning the fact that we have no energy, how does she do this????  Even with intense training for years, how could she do this?  It's simply amazing!  I love this picture of her as a young woman, and watched her this morning on GMA when she said that she didn't have the focus at that age that she has now.  Positively amazing, this woman...

 

 

And the leads for Fifty Shades of Grey have been announced, Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam.  I read the books, and by the third one I was absolutely bored out of my mind.  There are only so many ways you can have sex, and only so many times you can rehash it, it just wasn't my cup of tea, those books, even though most of my friends enjoyed them.  So I have no interest in this movie, I'll pass, even though the media is frenzied with anticipation.

 

 

And Katie Couric is engaged.  *yawn*.  Somehow it's just not that exciting when she's fifty-seven years old.  Will she wear white?  **meow**

And that's what I'm reading about this morning.  I'm a lot more intrigued by the human spirit than I am by the celebrities.  Aren't you???

Dreaming of fall….

 

When I was a child, we visited orchards like this.  Mother's favorite apples were Winesap and Jonathan, and mine was and still is Yellow Delicious.  She would climb big old wooden ladders to pick the apples, and come home with bushel baskets heaped full. Then the real work began, she would  can fat slices covered in a sugar syrup,  bake big tubs of apple butter, spicy hot with cinnamon candy, and of course make the most wonderful apple pies laced with cinnamon and nutmeg, always baked in a lard pie crust.  I have such good memories of those times and pictures like this take me back.

But it's hotter than Haiti right now in Heavensville, we've been spoiled by  a lovely summer and now it is just horrendous outdoors.  Hubby and I are housebound, with the blinds closed, escaping the 97+ temperatures this weekend.

I thought earlier this month that fall was in the air, but it was just wishful thinking, but soon, very soon...

The BEST Vintage Kitchen

 

Who doesn't love a vintage kitchen, and this one is a doozy.  But it's not my story to tell, I found it on Julia's Hooked On Houses site.  So hop on over to her pages and check it out, it's just chocked full of pictures.  

Here's the link

And yep, I snagged this picture from her site.  She has many more, a fun escape this afternoon...

Nestea, it's cheap, it's good, did I mention it's cheap????

John and Deanna were home earlier this month and we went to a Sunday church social.  You know the kind where they have shade trees, quilt raffles, families, and country cooks serving wonderful food.

I've been low carbing since late May, but I totally caved for the first time and ate carbs that day.  My food(s) of choice - Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, dressing AND homemade noodles.  Also on the table were bowls of fresh homegrown tomatoes, wonderful coleslaw, that I'm still trying to get the recipe for, and pitchers of iced tea.

Oh yeah, I fell off the bandwagon with a huge kerthud, but it was totally worth it.  I did, however, pass on dessert, while the rest of the family dived into oatmeal cake, strawberry cake  and banana nut cake.

John loved the iced tea, and he doesn't miss a trick, he saw them stirring it up in huge trash cans.  Yes, they were clean, they were feeding a lot of people that day, they had to do things in a big way.  So John goes over and asks the ladies what kind of tea it was.  To our surprise they said Nestea.  Now my buddy Ang was with us,  she didn't add any sweetener to hers, but the rest of us were jacking ours up with those little pink packets, and she said it was sweet enough without it, so I'm thinking it was the presweetened variety they were using.

But sugar is a no-no in our house, so I found the unsweetened variety at our local grocery store, came home, read the label, 4 Tablespoons per quart and stirred up a batch.

Whoeee, this stuff tasted really STRONG, nothing like they had at the church social.  So I decided the next batch to back it off to 3 Tablespoons.  I made it, tasted it, a little better, but not much.

So then I get our my glasses and reread the label.  Jeez Louise, the label said 4 teaspoons per quart, not 4 TABLESPOONS.  No wonder mine tasted strong!  So now I'm happily stirring up batch after batch, adding 5 packets of Splenda per quart, chilling it in the fridge before serving it.  Yes, I add ice to my glass, but it just tastes better when you start with it cold!  And does mine taste as good as what we had at the church social?  Not really, but it's still pretty good.  And did I mention that it was really cheap????

Happy drinking, it's a hot week in Heavensville, high 90's forecasted thru Sunday.  Fun, fun...

Windex Touch Up Cleaner, it's a good thing...

 

This little Windex thingie is awesome, and a little dab'll do ya.  Yep, I know I'm a dork, but I get so excited about stupid stuff, and I always share.  My flavor of choice, lemon of course.  And the best part, it's refillable.  Pick one up the next time you're at the market, you will love it, pinkie swear you will.  ~ Jan

One of those special moments...

 

My daughter-in-law, Lindsay posted this on her FaceBook page today.  Apparently they were at the Disney Store, and afterwards little Miss A was all tuckered out, riding in Daddy's arms.

Talk about tugging at the heartstrings.  Such a special picture...

Ben's First Birthday...

 

 

We visited the family in Lexington last weekend for Ben's first birthday party.  He had a great time and obviously enjoyed decorating himself with his cupcake.

 

 

Then it was Abby's first day of pre-school on Monday.  Here are the kids with their pretty little mama, oh time passes too quickly.  In a couple of years she will be in kindergarten and Ben will be going to pre-school.  Grammie is not ready for that!

Sally's Tanwise Self Tanner

 

Deanna and John visited a couple of weeks ago, and she had the loveliest tan.  Her arms and legs were a sunny golden brown and when I commented on how good it looked she said "You know I don't tan, Jan, I used a self-tanner from Sally's."   So of course I was all over it, disregarding the fact that she has smooth, dewy, supple 30 something skin, and I have crepey, dry, age spot ridden 60 something skin.  But nontheless, I was hoping for a miracle in a can.  So I tooled over to Sally's, picked up a spray bottle and I was off to the races.  Kinda...

I showered, aimed that sucker at my chest and sprayed with a vengeance.   AAACCCCKKKKKKK, it came out of the bottle like army green spray paint, and I'm not kidding!  I was in a panic, we were going out to dinner and I had sprayed myself green!  I start rubbing furiously, and magically the army green disappeared and a tan color took it's place.  All the time I'm thinking how glad I was that I didn't spray it on my face!

So I called Deanna and told her what happened, she was laughing so hard, she completely forgot to tell me how it came out of the bottle.

And am I pleased with it?  Yes,  it's a good product, it doesn't smell, it doesn't wipe off, it's long lasting, it's a natural color, but if you try it, I warned you.  Army green at first, and not transparent either!  And wash your hands when you finish!!!!!!

Egads the things we do for beauty.

Update:  Deanna blogged in length on Harris Sisters GirlTalk about this today, apparently at the same time I was blogging about it   And now I'm remembering that I asked her to do it because I was too lazy.  And then I promptly forgot!!!  Egads, I'm impossible.

But that was yesterday,  and today after a caffeine surge, I got a burst of energy and decided to post this, totally forgetting that I asked her to do it.

And since we both blogged at the same time,   I would like to say that brilliant minds think alike, but yours truly isn't brilliant at all, but thank goodness Deanna is!

Anyhoo, go to her website, Harris Sisters GirlTalk, she does a much better job of reviewing this than I did!  

The first sign of autumn...

 

I was down at the woods a bit ago, trying to live in the moment, breathing the cooler air, feeling the wind on my face and I spied the turning leaves.  They were just on one tree, in a forest of many, but it was a sign.  The coming of fall, and a gentle reminder that Mother Nature will show us the way, as she always has.

Cedar Cove, #1 Hit of the Summer!

 

So are you all watching Cedar Cove?  If you aren't, you're missing out on a really fun series  It's like a little summer vacation every week visiting the folks at Cedar Cove.

If you've missed last week's reunion show, here's a link to what happened.   I've got my DVR set to record the series, I don't want to miss any of this.  It's been a long time since a tv series has held my interest like this is.  No heavy drama, no over the top comedy, just a comfortable, homey, entertaining show.  Love it!

Back to the 60's with Cherl Tiegs..

 

 

 

Remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about hubby wearing nothing but black and channeling Johnny Cash.  Well, I'm no better, I'm now convinced that I'm badly channeling Cheryl Tiegs.  

See this picture from the Sears catalog, circa 1960's, well let me tell you I  loved this very picture.  I still remembering getting this Sears Catalog and just drooling over her hair.  Well, my latest haircut is a little bit too similar.  Of course she's young in this picture, I'm old(er), she's tiny, I'm robust, her face is the perfect oval, mine is round as a balll.  Dontcha like that word "robust" - sounds lots better than fat(ter) I think.

I pulled up this vintage picture of her, and started laughing.  Then I took a picture of my hair and sure enough, it's pretty similar.  If I redid the part and the bangs, and teased the crown a bit, t would be almost the same, well, except for the fact that I don't look a thing like Cheryl Tiegs.

Just for fun, I Googled a picture of her today...

 

Wow, amazing, she's sixty-five years old, how does she stay so skinny?   I still love her hair, it looks amazing, maybe if I let mine grow.  Yeah, sure thing Jan, you would just look like an old(er) porker with long hair.  Jeesh…..

This will be me! Soooo funny!

 

 

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car-both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red but they just went on through. The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself "I must be losing it, I could have sworn we just went through a red light."

After a few more minutes they came to another intersection and the light was red again and again they went right though. This time the woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous and decided to pay very close attention to the road and the next intersection to see what was going on.

At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red and they went right through and she turned to the other woman and said, "Mildred! Did you know we just ran through three red lights in a row! You could have killed us!"

Mildred turned to her and said, "Oh, am I driving?"

Look who's one year old today!!!!

 

My sweet little grandson is having a birthday today.  Where has the time gone?  

He's such a joy, our little Ben.  He's the happiest baby, always smiling and laughing, what a joy this little boy is...

Happy Birthday Ben-Jammin, Grammie loves you!!!!!!!  XXO

Leopard Prints, they're controversial...

 

 

 

Now isn 't this classy, just a touch of leopard in the shoes.  Well, my earlier post about old(er) women wearing leopard was not well received.  It seems I am in the minority about overdoing it, others adore leopard and wear a lot of it.  Okay, whatever floats your boat, I'm hearing you.  Perhaps it's just that horrid family picture of myself in that awful leopard shirt that tainted me forever, but I still think just a touch is best!

These images are from Land's End, I just got a new old(er) lady catalog from them, and called my buddy V right away, because these calf hair leopard ballet flats were just calling her name.  The price, however, not so much $79, but Land's End always has coupons for at least 20% off and they ship free over $50.  Lands End is just full of leopard this fall, really pretty pieces.

 

So, if you're old(er) and wear major leopard, go for it!  Jeez, did I ever stir up a hornet's nest with this post!!!!!  Love you, guys!!!!!

Chia Seeds, are they a good thing?

 

There's a lot of buzz going around about the health benefits of Chia Seeds.  Yes, the same seeds that you use for Chia Pets.  They're low in calories, full of antioxidants and vitamins.  They give you energy, are filling, yada yada yada.

Here's part of what Eating With Purpose has to say about them. 

So what makes chia seeds a true superfood that you just can’t live without? For starters, lets take a look at these impressive stats. Chia seeds contain:

• 8 times more omega 3’s than salmon
• 30% more antioxidants than blueberries
• 25% more fiber than flax seeds
• 3 times more iron than spinach
• 15 times more magnesium than broccoli
• 6 times more calcium than milk
• 2 times more potassium than a banana

Read more: http://eatingwithpurpose.com/2011/10/chia-seeds

Ryan picked me up a package at Trader Joe's and I decide to give them a try yesterday.  There are different ways of eating them, you can add water and they turn to tapioca like gel with little beads, you can grind them, or just sprinkle in things like yogurt, smoothies, soup, salads, scrambled eggs, anything you want, the possibilities are endless.

It was evening, I was having some low carb ice cream, so I just sprinkled on a tablespoon.  Well, that was different.  They were tiny little seeds, not much flavor, a bit gritty, but they expand and gel in your stomach and make you full.

I ended up with them stuck in my teeth, they gelled in my mouth, and I was just sitting laughing at how stupid I am.  Was I hungry, I don't think so, I got so involved with something else that I don't remember.

Will I try them again?  Oh sure, I will, these little beauties are good for you, and I really don't mind the slightly gritty texture, but then I'm pretty warped.

If you Google "Low Carb Chia Seeds" you will see tons of information about them.  I'm constantly amazed at all the different things I find when eating healthy.  Chia Seeds are inexpensive, you can find them at your local health food store, and if you don't like them, you can always start a Chia Pet.  Well you can!!!!

It's time to surface...

 

 

I've been missing in action, people are emailing, it's nice to be missed.  I've been on a whirlwind, we went to Ryan and Lindsay's for a few days last week, then Abby  came home with us, and Ryan came last weekend to take her home.  There has been no time to blog, but it was so much fun.

 

Abby is in the car in this picture, singing.  Here's how it went down.

 

They have a video screen that shows the title of songs that are getting ready to play, and little Miss A doesn't miss a trick, as soon as she saw the words she said...

 

Abby:  Grammie, it's Adele's "Rolling in the Deep"

 

Grammie:  It is?  

 

Abby:  Yes, Grammie, it's my very favorite song.  I like it when it gets loud (meaning when it comes to the chorus).

 

Grammie:  Oh, really?

 

Abby:  Yes, it makes me want to dance, Grammie!

 

Then she proceeds to sing along with the song, never missing a word.  And yes I clapped at the end.

 

I must admit, I love this song, too, especially when it gets loud.  The loud part comes at the 1.:34 minute mark on the video.  Such an awesome song, such an awesome little granddaughter...

 

 

 

Land's End Leopard Print Cardigan

 

 

I saw this and went, "ohhhh, cute."  Then I got real...

• This woman is probably a size 2, tops
• This woman is thirty-something
• I'm sixty-three, and trying really hard to be a size 12!
• Who am I kidding?

Old(er) woman just can't pull off major leopard prints, it just reeks of Thelma Roper and her leopard caftans on Three's Company.  Or heaven forbid, Peg Bundy and her leopard leggings.  A touch is good, tho, I love my leopard ballet Crocs I bought this summer, but I'm flashing back to 2011 when I had my last rodeo with a leopard print top.  A family picture was taken, and I looked absolutely, positively horrid.  I had let my hair grow and was wearing it in an updo, and even though I liked it that way, OMG, that picture was a reality check, that leopard top with a faux turtle neck.  That's when I decided  If it isn't v-neck this round face is not wearing it!  Well, most of the time i don't.

But if you're thirty something, and no bigger than a size 4, you might want to check this out.

Here's the link.

But wait, what am I saying???  Thirty-something size 0-4 women wouldn't be caught dead in Land's End, it's old(er)  lady clothes!!!    Now, go make it a good day...

~ Jan