Labels

I have all these canisters with good stuff

in them. And I know what it all is.

But the others in my house are often 

confused as to what is what.

So they stick to the chocolate whey powder,

cuz it's pretty obvious.

And delicious.

Today I decided to take the bull

by the horns.

So to speak.

Aren't they cute?

There are 2 crossed spoons on the top,

then the ingredient name, a blue line (that was supposed to be green)

and a bunch of random spoons.

Now the guys will know what they are

looking at!

I also use a bunch of different kinds of rice,

so I made some labels for my mason

jars I use to keep those in as well.

And I made labels for some of the other

strange stuff I use, but haven't committed

to putting in jars yet...

I needed 18 different things for the sheet

of labels, so I made one for everything

and then put them away in case I

decide to get stuff out of my pantry

and display it on my shelf.

It was fun!

And they look nice.

And Rod will be happy.

SCORE!

Flowers!

I didn't think my little hibiscus

would survive.

I don't have a GREAT track record

with plants... might have to do

with my black thumb.

You be the judge...

This little yellow guy has SIX flowers!

Some are a vibrant yellow and

some are a pale yellow

but all have a beautiful red center.

This guy was a TOTAL surprise!

You don't get the full effect,

it's almost white with little pink

stripes running through the petals.

A beautiful flower!

(Good thing, cuz there's only ONE)

I didn't really expect anything out of

this guy for a couple more days,

but when I got home from the store,

he surprised me with a pretty pink flower.

They all look healthy and happy!

And, of course, my little gardenia.

Hang in there little guy!

Survived!

And thrived!

So far...

Behind

As Rod so gently reminded me yesterday,

I'm BEHIND!

It's been a busy couple of days.

Like it always is when you return

from a vacation.

Then you have to catch up all the 

stuff you didn't do while away.

But I'm caught up now.

Mostly.

So let's take a look at my photos and

see what we all missed, shall we?

I bought a new purse!

It was so nice using Nancy's little

red purse, I missed it!

This one is a little larger

and certainly NOT red.

But I like it so far...

And then on Saturday, Kyle and I

got a wild hair.  Rod was taking a 

VERY well deserved nap on the couch.

So we went to Lowes.

Sat in their comfy chairs in the a/c

and discussed our wild hairs.

And this is what resulted.

We had three bottle brush trees that

the previous home owner planted.

I kept hoping they would DO something.

But 13 years later they are still

scraggly, pathetic and just ugly.

So Kyle chained them up and

pulled them out.

Tractors are the BEST TOYS!

This one had a root on it that went

nearly all the way to the ditch!

6 feet of tree and 40 feet of root!

No wonder the tree never did anything.

All the energy was going to that root!

Loaded them up and took them to the street.

(See! I told you I didn't take our Christmas

lights down last year... or the year before...)

LOL

And then we planted four pretty little

Hibiscus bushes.

They are pink, red, pink, yellow(ish).

All have LOTS of buds.

I'm looking forward

to having something pretty along the drive

in the coming weeks / months / years.

They are small now,

but they grow fairly quickly,

Especially since I'm watering them.

And going to put some fertilizer on them.

If I remember to buy some.

Otherwise I'll just go to the pasture

and get some "natural" stuff...

(grin)

It looks better already!

(And a new gardenia bush, but its inside

the fence and I forgot to take a picture of it...)

Yesterday was a nice, relaxing Sabbath.

And this morning I'm continuing the trend

by following my eating plan (started a new

2 week no cheat challenge yesterday and

so far I'm 100%!)

(And down a pound)

Also started my annual T-Tapp 60 Day Challenge

on Sunday which only meant taking pictures.

This morning I entered all my 

measurements (which are DOWN from

the ones I did 60 days ago on 2/15/18!)

uploaded my photos (ick)

and did a 27 minute workout that

focuses on healthy hormones and menopause

management. Which is what I need.

I'll do that one for the next 4 days

and then we'll see.  I have LOTS to 

chose from. Sometimes sticking to the same

one is what I want, and sometimes I need 

lots of variety to stay on the band wagon.

Considering I've done approximately 14 

workouts in the past 12 months, I haven't

landed on the right combination yet...

LOL

Wish me LUCK!

Tucson 2018

I'm having a wonderful time

visiting here in Tucson.

We are busy everyday.

But when I look back at the end of the day

I'm not sure exactly what we have done.

Lots of driving around,

Lots of errands.

But also lots of eating,

talking,

laughing,

looking at pictures,

seeing bits of Tucson.

It's fun to have mountains on the horizon.

And fun, rolling roads to drive on.

We've visited with lots of different

branches of the family.

Now that Sondra and Gary are gone,

the frantic "must do something every minute"

pace has slowed significantly.

But the amount of food consumed

seems to be pretty constant.

LOL

I even got a picture of a monkey

playing with his antique wrench.

Unfortunately, Rozann and Greg have

been pretty sick almost the whole time!

I feel so badly for them!

We've gotten to spend a little time

with them, but mostly from a distance.

(grin)

I'm still here for almost another week,

so there is hope they will be better

soon and we can catch up!

Meanwhile, 

today Mom has a "procedure"

for her heart at the hospital this morning.

Nancy and I are heading out soon to pick

up her "Thursday Bagels" to take to her

chemo patients at the foundation,

and then back here to get Mom and Dad

and take them over to the hospital.

And then it's up in the air.

We have LOTS of different options,

we'll just see what we feel like doing

at that point.

But regardless,

it has been VERY relaxing.

(Except for this EXACT second!)

There is a red headed woodpecker that

hammers on the metal air conditioner EVERY

morning about this time and it scares the

socks off me every. single. time.!

LOL

He's done now.

Getting the Band Back Together

It's been YEARS.

But the band is back together this weekend.

And we are clearly having a BLAST!

This was on the way back from the

airport (for the third time)

picking up Sondra.

Ding Dong the Gang's All Here!

We've done a lot of talking

and laughing

and EATING.

I feel like I ALWAYS have my

camera in my hand,

but I haven't actually taken a ton

of pictures. 

Sondra is only here for one more day

so I'll make a conscious effort to take MORE.

And then tomorrow afternoon we are

having family pictures taken.

It sure has been great to be all together

though!  What a wonderful group!

Multi-tasking

Thank goodness for electricity and

modern conveniences!

The dishwasher is washing the weekend's dishes.

The air fryer is roasting my breakfast okra.

The pressure cooker is making beef broth.

The computer is scanning and sending my class papers.

My phone is playing music.

The stove is cooking my fried eggs.

The microwave is making my herbal tea.

And I'm washing eggs.

(And writing a quick post...)

Next I need to eat my breakfast,

yes I'm aware it's 11:16 am.

I've been busy!

(The neighbor needed me to feed his

chickens and his bull is loose - we 

couldn't catch him and he isn't doing 

anything naughty besides being out,

so he's staying out...)

Then I'm going to color my roots and

take a shower.

Then it's laundry from the weekend stuff

and repack my suitcase.

Oh yeah, and I fed OUR animals.

So that's MY morning.

How's yours???

I'll get to see it FIRST HAND tomorrow!!!

(Well, not the MORNING...)

Not excited at all...

Ha!

Catching Up

Its been a busy couple of days.

Kyle, Linda and I went up to Dade City

to pick out a new cow for Linda's place.

I've never been there before.

It's BEAUTIFUL!!!

This is where we went first to pick up

some grass seed for her pastures.

The land was amazing!

It was a beautiful day and a lovely drive.

Then we headed out to meet a young lady

who had several cows for us to look at.

We drove around and looked at several

small herds, not finding exactly what Linda

was wanting to increase her herd.

We FINALLY ended up at a third pasture

with some beautiful big Percheron horses

and a couple of cows.

One of them was what Linda was looking for.

Negotiations,

Face Time chats with her daughter

*in Utah

and the decision was made.

Her name is Bear.

She is a year old, but underweight.

But they were looking for something that

was nearly breeding age and halter broke.

She was only worth about $700, but they

paid more (way more) for the ability

to easily handle her.

Loaded her up and headed south.

That was... Monday? No Thursday,

Monday we drove to another town called

Altoona. Not quite as scenic.

And bought another little girl named Molly.

I think Linda is done cow shopping for now.

Then I drove down to West Palm to teach

a class over the weekend. My favorite size.

12 students, whittled down to 10.

It was nice! But several "questioners" so

I was EXHAUSTED by the time I was done.

AND the TV was broken in my hotel room.

So I listened to books and Pandora on my

phone and didn't get really good sleep.

Monday I basically sat on the couch.

Well, I also made a pressure cooker full of

beef bone broth. Ended up with 4

mason jars full.

The dogs like it on their feed and I love

having "free" stock for cooking with.

Monday afternoon, Kyle KILLED his phone.

He carries is in his pocket and rested something

weighing about 200 pounds on his thigh

forgetting his phone was right there.

Actually, all the cracks and the giant hole

were from a similar event a couple of weeks ago.

THIS is what he did on Monday.

Oops!

So, after he got home, we headed into town

to the Sprint store to get him a new phone.

He can't survive without his Pandora.

Oh yeah, and the ability to communicate.

LOL

Tuesday I did the week's grocery shopping,

went to the RS Birthday dinner at the church and

tried something new!

Back to my pressure cooker.

I ordered a special pan and its been in my

cupboard for a couple of months.

That's my springform pan and my very first

baked cheesecake. I have never baked a 

cheesecake before - water baths and all that stuff

are beyond my interest level.

But this thing was done in 25 minutes!

Super easy!

The hardest part was letting it chill overnight.

It made a great breakfast this morning!

Today I'm washing the week's eggs and

starting making casseroles to put in the 

freezer for the guys to eat while I'm out of town.

(Although, so far I'm sitting in my chair,

writing blogs, eating cheesecake, fried eggs,

air fried okra, and listing to a Baldachi novel

on my phone...)

Better get going!

LESS THAN A WEEK LEFT!