Battle of the Cookies

These are both peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips added. The one on the left was made by my granddaughter after bugging her to try the recipe I saw on the internet. . . a box of yellow cake mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oil and 1 cup peanut butter.  350 for ten minutes. (We added the chocolate chips: 1 cup.) This was the Kansas version.

The one on the right has a WHOLE package of chocolate chips! I'm not sure what size package. They were made from scratch with Crisco, peanut butter and I am assuming eggs and flour and sugar. They were mailed from New Jersey to Kansas and hand delivered by the postman. When I told him what was in the package, he said, "I'm keeping these." I managed to wrest them away.

Both are delicious, soft textured and I can't leave them alone. Thanks to Judith for her thoughtfulness and notice to the post office: Try not to Throw everything. We have delicious crumbs to put on ice cream so no big loss there.

The Visitors Have Left

We had a wonderful week with part of the family arriving last Friday, part on Saturday, some leaving on Sunday with one remaining!  It was hard to keep track without a score card.

I kept busy making potholders for the Oregon branch. The girls took theirs home on Sunday. While I was doing pot holders, my sister-in-law finished her afghan. I am waaay behind on my project!

I used left over yarn.

Happy Birthday, PN

Today is our younger son's birthday. For the first time in many years, we are with him - or he is with us! As with many other families, our children scattered to the south and to the north!

I have friends who have all three of their kids living close to them. Our two do not. Mainly because we  are in a small town with very few new jobs in their chosen fields!

So we are glad when we can all get together. This time our daughter-in-law in the northwest and their two girls could not visit but we saw the ones from the south and the birthday guy.

(Did someone leave the cake out in the rain? We have been having showers.)

Chocolate - Read the Box!

Our two granddaughters from Texas arrived with many goodies. One was a box of chocolate for me.
They know that is my favorite snack.

I didn't even open it while the family was here. I didn't offer to share. I am an awful person.

After they left, I did open it. As you can see in the photo, there are two sections of a little tray that were wrapped in foil. I reached in and took a bite. Delicious. Before the second bite, I looked more closely. There were four layers; four wafer thin pieces of dark chocolate piled on top of each other!

 Then I looked at the box. It says many things that I can't read but two were chocolate and 8 stück.   That phrase meant 8 pieces. So there I was chomping down on four of them at one time.

As you can see, I put the rest back in the tray and later peeled off one piece for a treat.

Oh, and Schnitten means sleigh or sled or maybe some other meaning in the world of Schokolade.

Read the box. people!

P.S.  Zartbitter is bitter sweet.

Saturday!

Not much has been happening here except moving some junk around and doing a little cleaning.

We have company! Part of the party arrived last night from Texas.

The other part will arrive today from Portland by way of Texas.  So excited!!!

Just wish the other three could have been here too but school intervened.  We'll be thinking of you, CSN!

Cool Wednesday

We were dreading going to the doctor appointment today because of the heat. Surprise! It was cloudy and cool all day until the sun came out later in the day. Then we went to 91.

All was good news at the doctor as we welcomed back the guy, a specialist, that Lee really liked. He had been gone a couple of years. He told Lee he looked good!

We also got an answer to a question about why our family doctor does not go the hospital when you are a patient there. He says this is happening all over the country. I guess specialists can still go but for just a regular problem you will be seen by a "hospitalist" that you have never seen before. In February my luck of the draw doctor was a very nice young man who looked about twenty. Nope. He was thirty.

This change is very strange in my opinion. I would still like to understand the rational for this. Has it
always been like this in large cities and we are just catching up? Why should we have confidence in these new persons who have never seen us before? They can read a chart but that tells them nothing about our personality or the way we react to situations.

Oh well. The times, they are a changin'

Cleaning is not Always Good

Yesterday we cleaned out the bottom freezer on the fridge. We took out the basket and really got it nice a sparkly clean.

We put the basket back in backwards.

This morning Lee was going to have a frozen waffle. They weren't frozen. Evidently putting the basket in wrong, keeps the door from completely closing. It wasn't noticeable!

I threw out two large bags of food and three half gallons of ice cream.

It's now facing the right way and the temperature is back down to 14.4 according to Lee's handy, dandy thermometer.

Another First in this journey to incompetence.

A Broken Rule

Today was a doctor's appointment with our newish doctor who is thirty and looks about twenty-one.

The instructions say, "Be there fifteen minutes before your appointment." We live very close to the clinic so there is no big trip to take. Somebody this morning wasn't moving very swiftly. We finally got there one minute before the appointment. No problem! I didn't have to sign in on one of those electronic pads that are guaranteed to be germ free. No extra paper to fill out which they usually hand out every visit. And we didn't have to wait very long until we were ushered back.

We may try this method again.

Another Day, Another Earthquake

Last Friday we had the one that everybody felt.  At 7:59 a.m. a 4.2 was three miles west of South Hutchinson, KS. There have been many small ones since but this morning about 3:45 another 4.1. I
don't know if it woke me up or Lee moving around the bedroom. He said it wasn't loud like the one on Friday that sounded like an explosion. This one just shook.

I only felt one of the twelve or so since Friday. I was sitting at the computer and thought one of the dogs bumped my chair.

Nope.  Hope the earth calms down around here.

Friday

It started out normally. This day after our anniversary.....

I came out of the bathroom, shut the door and there was this loud "explosion" sound.  I thought something had fallen in the bathroom or the toilet had exploded. I looked at the clock - 7:57.

Lee thought a car had hit the house. What it was, was an earthquake. We've had few but some were very slight. This was a 4.2. Luckily, no pictures fell or wine bottles (we didn't have any of those here) and in the garage only a tube from the yard blower had rolled across the floor. Businesses and some homes had minor damage. For a while they blamed the frequency of the quakes on fracking. However, there is a fault near here. The earliest earthquake recorded in Kansas was in 1867!

Later in the day Lee asked me to close the garage door. I did but didn't have the door into the house completely closed. Jill got out. Lee got ballistic. I called the dog. It's like talking to a brick. We did not train these dogs and they are the first ones we've had that did not come when we called.

I got in the car and Lee started following her up the street in his Jazzy. Finally she started back toward the house, seemed to be tired and we got her up on the chair. Not a fun experience.

Later:  Yesterday I made a peach cobbler. The picture didn't look so good. It kind of sank but it tasted ok.  There is still some left. And now guess who wants apple pie. Krogers/Dillons, here I come. No more baking for me this week.

Scrubbies

Since a nice blogger (CH) sent me scrubbies, I have shamelessly copied them and had six completed. She mentioned that she had given some to nurses so since I was going to see some nurses, I took the six with me to IVIG.

Three were on duty and the room was full with almost every chair taken. After it had cleared out somewhat, I asked one of the nurses how many were there today. Three but one came and relieved Christine to have lunch. So I gave each of the four a red scrubbie.

Later, the mother of one of the teenage patients went out and bought cherry limeades for everybody!
When I could get her attention, I gave her one. Her favorite color is red and she is going to hang it on her Christmas tree.

I had one left. In came one of the nurses who was off to have a baby. She had the baby with her so we all loved seeing him. Six weeks old. In four weeks she has to come back to work. She got the last scrubby.

Now, I wish I could find the yarn with the sparkles in it. They are so much more - well, sparkly!

Variations

Today was the day. Every eight weeks I get an IV at the infusion lab in the local hospital.

Today I walked up to the registration desk. She asked my name and then stood and invited me to follow her about fifteen steps to a desk in a cubicle. There a nice young lady looked at my medical cards and had me sign the electronic signature machine, put on an armband on my arm and that was it.

Sometimes they tell me to have a seat and then a person from a cubicle comes and gets me. Several times the lady at the registration desk has done the whole deal right there at the desk, arm band and all.  Other times, they have pointed the way to the where the "checker-inners" are seated.

Formerly they asked questions about black lung and if I was participating in any government studies on health issues. Other questions about traveling outside the country were asked. But not today.

Each time it is a new experience. I can hardly believe they change their protocol every eight weeks. Maybe each employee just does what they want to do that day.

Anyway, I got my paper work and went to the fifth floor. Thank goodness for elevators. I barely made it across the parking lot and it was not that hot today. (87) Back to the nineties tomorrow.

P.S.  I forgot the most embarrassing thing I did. The registration lady asked how she could help me and I told her I was there for an invasion on fifth floor. I corrected it.  I think I watch too much news.

Forty-five by Thirty-six

This could be a lap afghan - or if you are very short, A  regular cover.

Here We Go Again

I started another afghan today. I am determined to make this one bigger - like my heroine, JRC, does!

No two are ever the same size here. I just chain the foundation till I get tired. But not today!  I have a chain seven feet long.

I wonder how many more skeins I need to buy.

The color of the yarn is "café latte" by Red Heart.

Half a Day - Lost!

This morning I had breakfast and went back to bed. Slept till almost 2:00.

Some days when you feel like something is just not right, you may just need sleep.

Fast Service

On August 8th we discussed ordering an item listed on Amazon. The literature said it would be delivered by the 10th. Finally, I checked it and decided to order. The price had gone up over $15 since morning. Forget that!
The next morning, the 9th, I checked it again after deciding it was still a good deal. The price was back down to the original amount. I ordered! My final account page showed the original $65.
It also stated it would be delivered by Sunday, August 11th.

On a Sunday?

Today, Saturday, the 10th, Fed Ex dropped off the box. They didn't ring the bell but the dogs notified us that something was here. I went back and checked the tracking page....Fort Worth yesterday to Edmond OK, to Wichita this morning at 7:15.

Amazing.

P.S. I would rather buy locally but the few places we have here that carry this item, did not have this model. Only Goddard and Newton were listed as having them in stock.

Cleaning Day for Carpets

We had the carpets cleaned today. Last time it was in February, very cold and I stayed in the house during the cleaning. Even though the "soap" they use has a very pleasant smell, it is overwhelming. It made my breathing worse and I ended up in the hospital.

So today I planned to stay out on our screened in porch with Lee and the dogs. Part of that didn't work out. Lee stayed in the one room that was not being cleaned. I did stay out on the porch. Thankfully it was not a 100 degree day with the feel-like temperature of 107! It had rained last night and was 70 cool degrees with a breeze.  How lucky can you get?

To avoid more coffee spills, I'm using the sippy cup/glass that was a souvenir from the hospital event celebrating all the people who have been born there. I think I was the second oldest there. One person was 92.

Anyway, I guess we start out clumsily with a sippy cup and when we get old(er) we end up using one for coffee, just in case.

Serendipity

Don't you like it when things just work out?  It does happen sometimes for me. The  one that repeats most often is the speed limits. We have two limits in our town - 30 and 35 mph. The only other one is when school lets out and it's 20 mph.

When I am driving and look down at the speedometer and see that I am exactly on what I should be on, I think, how lucky! Most traffic here stays within the right speed but of course there is always one who speeds on by.

The other thing that happened recently is that we went to buy one loaded potato at the barbecue spot. (We split it - they are huge.)
I called it in. That way we won't have to sit and wait in the hot car. (A/C is not working.) The order was one loaded potato with double beef. So we drove to the window behind another car and had to wait anyway. I didn't remember the exact cost so I grabbed a ten dollar bill, three quarters and a dime.  She told me the price was $10.84. I got a penny change. How close could I get? (I thought the price was a little higher than usual!)

So we got home and opened the extra heavy sack. There were two boxes, each with a huge potato but no extra beef! I thought I heard her say that next time it might be a little more because they didn't double the beef.

Traffic - where are the polizei?

On a short errand we saw two pick-up trucks in two different locations turn left when the green arrow was not on for the left turn lane. Luckily, no one was approaching so there was no collision.

The next strange maneuver was executed by a car ahead of me in a left turn lane. When the green left turn arrow came on, he glided to the right and went straight ahead, getting a head start on the cars stopped in the lane that was meant to go straight!

Very strange drivers loose on the street.  And next month is the state fair. We may hibernate.

Remembering Stuff

As any person past sixty will tell you, one has a hard time remembering things. Some things are important. Some not so much. Why do I remember things that don't mean a thing and can't remember different times we had together as a family?

The dumbest thing I remember is a line or two from the old TV series, All in the Family.
Archie and his son-in-law, Meathead, are having a conversation. They were at odds with each other most of the time and I don't remember the discussion. What does stick in my mind is that Meathead was putting on his shoes and socks. Suddenly Archie says, "That's not how you do it!" Meathead (Rob Reiner) had put on one sock and one shoe, leaving the other foot naked.

Archie continued: "A sock and a sock! A shoe and a shoe!" The younger guy couldn't believe it. Neither could I. But Archie thought he was doing it wrong.

So now on some mornings when nothing else is on my mind, I remember the line - a sock and a sock.

You can tell nothing was on my mind this morning.

Amazing

Today both dogs ate their food with no added broth, meat loaf, gravy or other condiments.

No hand feeding either.

Someone couldn't believe it.

It's what the vet and I have been trying to tell him for years - when they are hungry, they will eat.

Do you see love handles?

It's Friday

The days just seem to roll by and so I missed another day of blogging.

We are having a wonderful relief from the heat today. Only about 80. We were out for a short time to run an errand.

The dog is on a diet. What we thought was a fatty tumor was just fat. Actually there was one  on  each side which I still don't see but the vet says so. Love handles he called them. New rules: No people food and 1/4 cup of dry food twice a day. This is killing Lee because whatever he ate, the dogs ate. Only the female kept gaining weight. Thirty-three pounds on a small dog is too much.  Vet

said he could take her for two weeks for diet camp and she would lose the weight. So much to my other half's dismay, we are doing it ourselves. We have to shut them out of the room where we eat. They didn't sit and look at me. They knew they weren't getting anything from me and it didn't bother me at all. Others have a more tender personality.

Just call me Hard Hearted Hannah.

The photo is when they were rescue puppies. Jill is tan and Jack is black. The picture is very deceiving because Jill is the bully and poor Jack is intimidated daily. They had been in a kennel together so we thought they would get along. We got them on Halloween, 2011. Black and orange pets were half price! Mostly they do get along (ignore each other) but once in a while Jill will block Jack's path to the doggie door or snap at him for no reason. They do keep us company.