Happy Halloween / Happy Fall Fest

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Today I read a bit in the Wikipedia entry about Halloween. I read a few things in the entry that I had never read before. Even if you don't celebrate Halloween you might find it an interesting read. Here is the link to the entry: Halloween .

Whatever you celebrate tomorrow I hope it is a safe and enjoyable day.




Happy Fall Fest!



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From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
-- Scottish Saying
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Just Another Day

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And I am grateful for it. It started off a bit chilly at 37° this morning. It was breezy all day with a high temperature of about 59°. It was a perfect day for Slum Goodie . Frank chopped some jalepeño peppers for the dish. I sat on a stool and browned the ground beef, onion, peppers and garlic. Frank opened all the cans and I got everything together and simmering. It simmered on low for couple of hours. Frank made some muffins from the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe. We had fine fare today! There is enough for tomorrow. I like leftovers... the flavor is usually better the next day.

Frank is so talented. This weekend he made whole wheat bread... no bread machine. He actually likes the kneading part. He also made some delicious beef stew. A favorite way of ours to bowl this up is to put a thick slice of the whole wheat bread in our bowl; top with some grated cheddar cheese and spoon the stew on top. No recipes for these for you.. maybe in the future. Here is a picture of a loaf of bread he made a while back:


Click on picture to go to a larger view.

I need to practice more on my food photography.

Did I mention how much I love my very talented husband :-) He is a keeper for sure.

I'm not doing much right now... alas, my hurting back. Tomorrow though I'm going to try and organize some of the clutter here in the computer room. This old computer is acting up today. The newer computer is not working. It is about time for the computer guru to come for a visit.

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Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. -- Voltaire
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Show & Tell Friday and Rain!

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Today for Show & Tell Friday I decided to show y'all that I do sometimes do a bit of work with a needle... not just the camera :-)

This first one is a crewel embroidery that I did so many years back that I don't remember when. For some reason I haven't tried crewel embroidery again. (A bit of flash glare hitting the lower part of the picture & frame.)

Click on picture for a larger view.

This next one is a counted cross stitch. I like it because it is how my DH and I feel about each other :-)

Click on picture for a larger view.

I have a dresser scarf that I started cross stitching on a few years back... can't exactly remember why I put it down... maybe it was when I injured my shoulder or wrist. LOL... I just keep falling apart. I'm going to get the scarf out and see if I can finish it.

It started raining last evening and rained all night long.. a nice steady rain most of the time. It has continued through the day and by 4 o'clock this afternoon we had about 4 inches of rain. We haven't had rain like this in a long time. It is very much appreciated rain.

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Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. -- Roger Miller
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Doctor - Flu Shot Day

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First I'll start with yesterday... I got the injections in my back and boy did they hurt! I had a rough day yesterday. I stayed queasy all day long. Usually I'm just queasy for a short time after these injections. I felt better at lunch time and enjoyed the leftover roast... then it hit again. I couldn't even manage to sit at the computer and read blogs. So today was catch-up day and I enjoyed reading blogs. Everyone is just so talented.

This morning was our regular six month check-up with blood work done... so no early breakfast. Our doctor really likes to see us... he wants my husband to work for him. DH has copies of most of our test and has charted out our cholesterol test to see how we are doing... etc. Neither one of us has high cholesterol our problems are our triglycerides.. it runs a bit high. The doctor also wants my good cholesterol to be better... and it is getting there. That is not easy when you are a Southerner... no fried foods.. an atrocity! Well... we went to Chick-fil-A afterwards.. we are so bad! :-)

We got our flu shots while there. I haven't had the flu since we've been taking these shots. I used to get it about every two years... the real flu is no fun. I Haven't had a head cold since taking the flu shot. I do sometimes get bronchitis... which is usually a result from allergies gone bad.

There were some funny things that took place at the doctor's office, but I won't embarrass DH :-) One cute thing is our family doctor is part part of OB-GYN Associates at the Veranda. He isn't listed at the group's web site. DH has gotten teased a few times about the letterheads on some of the documents from Dr. Jackson's office.

Today I actually did a few things. I washed the dishes... twice all ready today. I cleaned the coffee pots and the Rubber Maid gallon ice tea container. I wiped all but the bath tub down in the bathroom... only one bathroom here which is an inconvenience at times, but glad I don't have two to clean.

Our late lunch was Barbers Broccoli and Cheese. Yep.. we are very bad again. They don't taste as good as they used to, so probably won't buy them any more.

I also did a load of wash today... the whites. They will probably stay in the dryer until tomorrow.

This morning DH went and bush-hogged down at Stubbs Acres, my parent's old place. There are some pictures here and here . Some of the wildlife and flora pictures are nice and some are just too far away. The flowers here, the birds here, butterflies here and assorted critters here . The pictures were taken with my older Sony f717 camera. I like my frog picture best.


Click on the picture to go to a larger picture.

I love the serenity down at Stubbs Acres. A nice place to walk around. The only bad thing is the neighbor raises hogs and cows. He has too many in a small area, so the flies and odor get very bad. One just hopes the breeze isn't blowing toward you.

We watched some recorded tv shows this afternoon.

It is beginning to rain... we sure need the rain. It has been very dry lately. We've been in a drought for a few years and it doesn't seem like we'll ever get out of it.

Just one of my ho-hum days.
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Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. -- Doug Larson
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Dreaming..

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Today I'm dreaming that I am sitting by the lake at Georgia Veterans State Park


Click on the photo and you should be taken to a larger view.

...reading my book. I'm reading a John Grisham book, PLAYING FOR PIZZA. A pretty good read for the subject being football. I used to watch football all the time. Somehow over the years I've just gotten too lazy to go to the bedroom and watch sports. It is no fun watching on a 13" screen anyway.

This weather has been fall-like with temperatures in the mid forties in the morning and in the low seventies for the high in the afternoon. The weather is just perfect for camping.. oh that should be rving :-) We still cook on an open fire sometimes, but most of the time I just heat something up in the microwave when we are out... it is hard to have fun when you have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I keep it simple. I usually cook extras in the weeks prior to our trip and freeze the meals and reheat in the microwave. My husband cooks Slum Goodie over the camp fire... he just doesn't think it is camping without doing so. Maybe soon we can go camping.. er.. rving.

Fall means the peppers will soon be gone. This is the last of the banana peppers.


Click on the photo and you should be taken to a larger view.

They have tasted very good this year. They are sweet except when you use the seeds too and then they are slight bit warm.

I made a pot roast today. I cooked it in the cast iron dutch oven... I haven't done that in a while. It sure is good... it just seems to taste better cooked in the cast iron pot. (I should have taken pictures, but I was so hungry) We have enough for tomorrow. I can get the pot into the oven, but getting it out is another thing.. so Frank lifted the pot out of the oven. He is so handy to have around :-)

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Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn. -- Elizabeth Lawrence
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A Nervous Day

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My doctor's appointment was this afternoon. So I was nervous most of the day. A little more than a couple of weeks ago I had epidural injection on either side of the L5 -S1 joint of my lower back. It didn't help my pain at all. In fact my pain got worse, but I'm sure the injections had nothing to do with the increased pain.

We arrived at my doctor's appointment 15 minutes early... my appointment was at 2:00. I purposely made the appointment first thing in the afternoon so the wait would not be forever. Frank signed me in and there is one person already signed in to see my doctor and his appointment is at 2:15. Yep... they took him first. It really irks me when that happens.

I saw the doctor at about 2:20, so the wait wasn't too bad. Frank swears it was not hot in the exam room, but it felt like it was a 100 degrees in there with no air moving... I do get a bit hot when I'm nervous :-) I fanned myself with a Sears sales booklet while waiting for the doctor and while talking with the doctor. I should have brought my fancy fold up fan... a bonnet and I would really have looked the Southern Belle :-)

There will be no surgery for now. I'm going to have injections in my facet joints on Wednesday morning. Hopefully this will do the trick and I will put off surgery for a while longer... maybe more years :-) The doctor also increased my dosage of Lyrica and that may help with the pain too. I will be yawning even more than I do now.

On to brighter things that make me calm and relaxed...

I took a picture of this pretty little lady bug yesterday.



Clicking on the picture will take you to a larger view.

She appeared to be grooming her face, but she might have been eating something I couldn't tell for sure. I say she... but it could be a he. I need to research if there is a way to tell if they are a he or a she without putting them under a microscope.

While I was taking pictures of the lady bug this tiny insect lit on a leaf just below the lady bug.



Again.. clicking on the picture will take you to a larger view.

I'm pretty sure the insect is a leafhopper of some type. If so this is my first picture of a leafhopper. It is a little bit smaller than the lady bug. I wasn't able to get really close to the insect, so the original image is cropped a lot.

I get excited over such things now. Several years ago I would have shrugged and said its a bug. But now insects amaze me. When I take picture of them and bring the image up on the computer screen I'm just amazed at what the insects really look like. This leafhopper is not very beautiful, but some leafhoppers have beautiful coloring and beautiful eyes.

I was a nervous wreck most of the day, but looking at nature has soothed me.

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Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. -- Albert Einstein

A Lazy Day

I'm being so lazy today. I guess its okay to be lazy now and again.

Yesterday was suppose to be my day for sheet washing. I didn't do it because of all our errands. So this morning I was going to wash the sheets. I went to get the sheets and DH had made the bed... so no way was I going to strip the bed of the sheets after him being so kind as to make the bed for me.

DH has been helping me out a lot lately. I'm having problems with my back. Way back in 1993 I herniated the disc that is bothering me now. I had surgery back then and the doctor took out just a slither of the disc to relieve the pressure on the nerve. Now the disc has all but disappeared and there is pressure on the nerve. My back throbs, my right hip, thigh, calf and foot have pain running down them. It hurts to stand long and is torture to walk very far. About two weeks ago I had two steroid injection in the disc area in hopes for relief of pain and to avoid surgery. I go to the doctor Monday and I'm sure plans will be made for another surgery.

Back to something a bit more pleasant... being I was being lazy today I did have time to edit pictures I took the other day. I took more pictures of another Elephant Ear Bloom. I used blue foam board for a back ground and no flash this time, so the picture is more subdued than the last I posted.



For dinner (our big midday meal) DH cooked hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. I heated up some canned baked beans to go with it and I fixed some baked sweet potato chunks. Just chunk some washed and dried sweet potatoes into 1 to 2 inch chunks. Mix a bit of oil with coarse ground pepper and cinnamon (I also added a bit of orange peel this time) in a large bowl. Add the sweet potato chunks and stir until well coated. Place on a jelly roll sheet (I line it with the no-stick foil). Bake in a 425° oven until tender and desired browness .. about 20 to 30 minutes depending on the size of the chunks. Today I preheated the oven and used regular oven setting. When I use speed bake (some ovens call it convection) I don't preheat and the potatoes are usually done by time the pre-heat bell goes off. The amount of oil, pepper and cinnamon depend on how much you are making. For me and my husband I used two smallish potatoes (what we usually have for a baked potato serving... smaller than what they serve in restaurants). I used a couple of tablespoons of canola oil, but any oil can be used. I just did a few grinds on the black pepper grinder... set on a coarse setting and spinkled a bit of cinnamon in. There are enough hot dogs and burgers for tomorrow :-)

After dinner we watched tapes of the shows that we don't stay up late enough to watch. Then I've read blogs this afternoon. Such talented ladies on here.

I did make iced tea today. For some reason I've begun to like it. Things change...

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A heart that loves is always young. -- Greek proverb
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What's Cooking & The Day

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I love Fall! The light is soothing the sweetness in the air of the last honeysuckles and the tea olive trees. The wild flowers with the insects visiting them are pleasant to the eyes. This time of the year gets me in the mood for the season's fruits and vegetables.

A few days ago I made a Sweet Tater Casserole. It was soooo good!



I didn't get the best picture of it.. my better pictures seem to be of spiders and bees :-)

Yesterday I sauteed some Golden Delicious apple slices.



I didn't follow a recipe and probably should have. I washed, cored and thinly sliced the apples. I sauteed them in some Smart Balance (maybe a ¼ cup) and when they were almost tender I added some honey(maybe a ¼ cup) and a sprinkle of apple pie spice and simmered until tender. I think it would be better with brown sugar. Maybe I'll look for a recipe and play with it :-)

Along with the apples we had grilled steak (that we had gotten months ago on sale), broccoli with cheese and a big batch of rice. Today we had the leftover steak and I stir-fried the rice with onion, banana peppers, green peas, bacon bits, an egg and teriyaki sauce .. and Frank added a couple of jalapeño peppers that were a little on the hot side. It was excellent.. but my ears burned :-)

We eat our big meal at midday... I call that dinner. Today this lovely dinner was late. We voted earlier this morning. No lines and I'm so glad that is over with. Then we went by the bread store. Yeah.. its a day old, but still good. It cost less than the super market. We buy a few loaves and put them in the freezer. We pinch pennies... or should that be nickels now... when we can. Then we went by the Marine Base and asked questions about some of the Tricare insurance. Then to the commissary... we were lucky and found a few slightly dented cans of green beans, enchilda sauce and Crystal Light Lemonade on the reduced rack. It was a busy morning. This afternoon we have watch tv shows that were recorded and even took a brief nap.

No quotes today...

Show & Tell Friday 17 Oct. 08

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Click on the above picture to join in the fun.

Here is my Show & Tell. I have had this condiment set for a long time.


© Zaroga Goff

Click on photo to go to a larger photo.

I think we lived in Va. Bch. VA at the time.. I probably purchased it in Gloucester, VA or perhaps the Richmond, VA area. It is NORITAKE, MADE IN JAPAN, and has the green wreath mark with the M in the middle. It is made before 1941... I can't really find out anything about them. On eBay I espied a creamer with the pattern for $28.00 and a sugar bowl with the pattern for $35.00. I assure you that I paid under $15.00 for this set... that is my limit on salt & pepper sets :-) I think that this set probably had a tray that they nestled in. I just love the pattern

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Note to thy self: Stay away from eBay.. you ain't got no more places to put those purty thangs!

AN AUTUMN STORY --- by Sonja Goff

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This is a story that our daughter wrote when she was about 13 years old or so... I've always loved it. Our daughter has a great imagination.

AN AUTUMN STORY
© Sonja Goff

I felt so good as I ran out into the crisp autumn air. The trees were dressed in bright colors of the season: reds, oranges, yellows and gold, and the last of the greens. The ground was covered with brown, dead leaves. They crinkled as I ran over them. I couldn't help but to regress to my younger days and roll around in a pile of leaves in the yard.

The leaves filled my lungs with a musty odor and memories of years gone by. I could remember children running through the yard and throwing leaves at each other. Once in a while one of the children would try to stuff leaves in Bob's sweater while he was still wearing it.

Later on in the autumn, families would make scarecrows for the upcoming year and prepare to harvest the pumpkin patches. I always enjoyed the pumpkin harvests. It was exciting to see all the orange spheres sitting in blankets of green leaves. It always surprised me that so many shapes could come from one field. Some of the pumpkins were round, some oblong, and some were even egg-shaped. The sizes of the pumpkins varied from tiny to tremendous.

It was also exciting to see the children make jack-0'-lanterns. I used to love to smell freshly cut pumpkin and chew on roasted seeds.

Jack-o'-lanterns meant that Halloween was here and Halloween meant candy. I used to steal some of the children's candy. The kids used to yell at me for taking it, but it tasted so good!

"Laddie, come here boy!" Bob yelled. I trottled up to the door and licked his hand. "You ready to come in, you old dog?" I just wagged my tail and wished I could stay outside and reminisce a bit longer.

Elephant Ears & Dancing And Mr. Right

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This is the second year in a row that my Elephant Ear plants have bloomed. I found out from my father-in-law a few years back that they could bloom. I don't know what I did right to make them bloom, but am happy to see their beautiful bloom. I took a few pictures of the bloom yesterday. I put a piece of red foam board behind it to help bring out the bloom's color.



On dancing and Mr. Right... well they had a bit on Good Morning America this morning about how a man dances can be an influence on how women see him as "Mr. Right". Well.. Frank (my DH) and I went to two dances before we were married. Neither one of us knew how to dance. When he held me in his arms on those slow dances I was pretty sure he was "Mr. Right". I don't think it was that much of a factor with me fallin' for him. I think his sense of humor is what really won me over and when he kissed me... well I just melted :-D

I still love Frank's sense of humor and I still melt when he kisses me.

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Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul. -- Linda Solegato

I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. --Rita Rudner

The Humidity Of It All!

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The past few days have been humid and my curls aren't looking as calm as in this photo..



This photo was taken when we were visiting Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. Not much in the way of humidity there. I can live with that much of a mess of a hair.

Now this photo was taken at Mt. St. Helens in Washington State.



A wild mess! I wonder why I wasn't wearing my hat. I wore my hat most of the Oregon Coast on this trip. (If you would like to read about our trip it is at this blog: Wandering About .

That is what my hair has looked like the past few days. So it is pony tail time :-) It doesn't matter what products I use on my hair... it just sprangles out everywhere. (sprangle is one of my mother's words... I just love it!)

My left eyelid is droopy.. I can't get any doctors to tell me why it does that. Insurance won't cover the cost of fixing the droopy eyelid until it interferes with my vision more... so mean time I have to look goofy in photos.

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We grow gray in our spirit long before we grow gray in our hair. -- Charles Lamb
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Little Things

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Yesterday afternoon I was walking around the yard with my camera. On the Hydrangea bush I saw several of these bugs crawling around.



The picture is a bit fuzzy and doesn't add to the beauty of this insect. Lets face it.. it ain't a pretty bug except for the orange-yellow color on its back which looks very Halloween. This ugly bug will turn out to look something like this..



Quite a metamorphosis! It turns into... well it has several names: Multicoloured (multicolored), multivariate, southern, Japanese, Asian, Halloween, harlequin or pumpkin ladybird (ladybug, ladybeetle). They are a "good insect"... except when they invade the inside of someone's home. They feed on aphids, thrips, mites, scale insects, and eggs of butterflies and moths. I know you think butterflies are "good insects". They are "good insects" when in the butterfly state, but when they are in the caterpillar stage they can be very destructive.

LOL.. now I'm suppose to pull a moral out of this, but I don't have one.

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Observe always that everything is the result of a change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and to make new ones like them. -- Marcus Aurelius
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A Treasure

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A first post on this blog... oh what to say.

Well today in my mind is this little angel that I treasure:


© Zaroga Goff

Years ago we lived in Colonial Heights Virginia and I worked in Petersburg. The friend who gave me the angel was a man in his mid seventies, almost twice my age, who was recently widowed. He came into the store I worked at quite a bit. We spent many of my 30 minute lunch breaks walking and talking.

He sent this angel to me after we moved back to Georgia in 1991. In the letter that accompanied the angel he thanked me for taking time to be with him. He told me in the letter that he had considered suicide and that our walks had gotten him past that thought.

In my walks with this man I only thought about how much I was enjoying the stories he was telling me of the life he and he wife had led together. It was a surprise for me to read how I had made a change in his life just by walking with him and listening.

We never know how we will touch another's life by a small act such as listening.
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Deep listening is miraculous for both listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judging, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand. -- Sue Patton Thoele
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