CellChic

Pepper Update

2010-11-09T11:15:00.007-05:00

Remember the little green pepper we were growing (top picture)? I finally picked it the other day...we had had a cold snap, and the plant was looking droopy, plus the green pepper was turning red. I put about 1/2 of it into my tuna noodle casserole last night. I felt so "pioneerish" growing one of my own ingredients *LOL*.

Looking at houses

2010-11-08T10:25:00.004-05:00

We are, thankfully, moving into a new phase since selling our house on 10/27 - shopping for a new home. Although we have a lot in Tarpon Springs that we want to build on, the idea of living in the RV for another year or so while that's going on is pretty daunting, not to mention the expense of renting the RV site and paying to have all our household items stored.

We decided to buy a small house to live in, reserving the majority of the proceeds from the sale of our home for building the new house to at least the C.O. stage. Since we are crazy people who are addicted to the DIY and HGTV channels, we want to buy something we can fix up and then at least break even when we turn around to sell it. As it turns out, this is easier said than done!

We have what seem to be reasonable criteria - 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 1500+ sq. ft. and priced below market value. We're probably naive, but we thought there would be DROVES of houses to look at, what with all the foreclosures on the market, but there are actually just a few, and we looked at them this weekend.

We've got 2 that we are considering, so I'll post updates as we go through this process.

Pumpkin Carving

2010-11-01T08:08:00.004-04:00

It's an annual tradition at our house. I think they turned out beautifully!

Picture of Procrastination

2010-10-16T14:29:00.006-04:00

This is a picture of procrastination. Or perhaps I could call it "Wishing You Had a Frost-free Fridge Doesn't Make It So".

Twice-Baked Potatoes (aka Once Grilled & Once Microwaved)

2010-10-15T20:55:00.018-04:00

When my daughter and I visited my dad, we pretty much cleaned out his freezer supply of twice-baked potatoes that my sister makes for him. K liked them so much, that she asked me to get the recipe and make some to keep on-hand for snacks. Baking the potatoes in the oven heated the camper up so much, that I adapted the recipe to do the cooking on the grill - works out great!

I buy a 5 lb. bag of baking potatoes, and make a HUGE batch - these things go fast at our place! Wash and scrub the potatoes with a brush, pat them dry, and rub a light coat of extra virgin olive oil on the skins. I place them on an insulated baking sheet on the grill, and cook them on low for 2 hours, turning them once after an hour.

Let them cool off for 10 or 15 minutes; Cut each one in half lengthwise along the skinny side so that there's a nice wide shell for filling.

Use a spoon to scoop out the cooked potatoes, leaving about 1/4 inch along the skin. In a large mixing bowl, mash the cooked potatoes to the desired consistency - I like to get rid of most of the big chunks, but I don't try to make it as smooth as mashed potatoes.

Add 1 cup of light buttermilk, and 1 cup of fat free sour cream. Now, this is where I kind of wing it, but it always turns out nicely...pinch a nice fistful of shredded 2% sharp cheddar for each potato you cooked (e.g. 10 potatoes=10 healthy pinches of cheese). I use the same haphazard measuring technique to add chives - use 2 or 3 chive leaves per potato, and snip them with kitchen scissors. Add one 3 oz. package of real bacon bits (Publix makes good ones.) And finally, toss in 1/2 tsp. of sea salt. (I forgot the salt in this batch, but it still tasted fine.) Mix the ingredients well.

Start with the nicest shells, and heap them full of the potato mixture. This particular 5 lb. bag yielded 24 filled shells. Stick them in Ziplocs in the fridge or for longer storage, the freezer. Microwave them when you're ready for munchies...they're wonderful. The teens around here rip through them like a swarm of locusts!

Sign of Fall

2010-10-10T13:26:00.007-04:00

OK, I'm having my first cappuccino since last spring, so fall must officially be here. I laid off cappuccinos when the weather got warm, since drinking anything hot made me feel like a human radiator.

I knew that when the first cool morning came, it would absolutely, positively need a cup of cappuccino to go with it. I frantically searched for a replacement for the little carafe that the (darned) cat had broken over the summer, and I finally found one online. Yesterday morning hubby kindly made me my first cappuccino of the season, and we sat outside enjoying our hot drinks, along with a couple of slices of toasted sesame Ezekiel bread for me (hubs says it's like eating dirt! LOL). It doesn't take much to make me happy :o)

What do YOU do that officially makes it fall for you? Leave me a comment - I would love to know!

Clockwork

2010-10-07T10:29:00.010-04:00

I am so proud of my friend, John M. Floyd. He has just had his third book published, a collection of short stories, mostly mysteries, called "Clockwork". You can read all about the book on the publisher's web site at Dogwood Press.

I met John over 30 years ago, when I began working at IBM in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1977. When I first saw John, he had his then 2-year-old son Michael by his side while his wife Carolyn was in the hospital with their new son David. John and Michael were getting ready to leave the office and John had stooped down to button Michael into his coat. "Daddy, you need to put your coat on, too," Michael said. This tickled John. "Gotta take care of your old man," he said. My first impression was that this guy was a good egg, and I still think that 33 years later.

I had known that John was an avid reader and movie buff; his development as a writer has been a real delight to watch. I'm amazed at the mysteries and thrillers that come out of his head; sometimes I think I should tell Carolyn to sleep with one eye open :o)

"Clockwork" is a great read, as are his first two collections, "Rainbow's End" and "Midnight". Treat yourself or the book-lover in your life to an autographed copy by ordering direct from the publisher at Dogwood Press. You won't be disappointed!

Oreo, the floppy-earred chihuahua

2010-10-05T11:06:00.012-04:00

Meet Oreo, sometimes known as O-dog, our chihuahua. She's only about 6-1/2; don't let the white face fool you. She's just prematurely gray. She's quite special - for instance, she does a very convincing imitation of roadkill, as you can see.

She also has floppy-ears, which takes the edge off the chihuahua look, and we find it very endearing. When she was a puppy, they told us the ears would eventually stand up, and for a while, the fold in each ear worked it's way up, until there was just a little flap folded over at the top. Then, it was like the effort was just too much, and both ears flopped over big-time and have been that way ever since.

In the past couple of years, she has developed an interesting tongue feature - it often hangs WAY out the left side of her mouth when her mouth is closed, even when she's sleeping.

She's extremely friendly, which surprises people who think chihuahuas are mean. The only time she's gets testy is when the other pets crowd her at her food dish or on the sofa... I totally understand; I'm the same way myself :o)

Thermostat Wars

2010-10-02T11:34:00.005-04:00

Here's an equation for you:

1 post-menopausal woman who's carrying around a little more weight than she'd like +

1 man on medication to lower his blood pressure and slow his heart rate = PERPETUAL THERMOSTAT WARS!!

I never thought it would happen to us. I used to shake my head at the bickering between my parents over turning the A/C up or down. "Wow, it's so great that we both like the house at the same temperature - we're just so compatible," I'd think to myself.

And then, a few years ago, it changed - I morphed into this woman who seemed to be constantly overheated. I've been known to throw a pair of jeans into the fridge just to tolerate putting on long pants. About the same time, hubby started heart meds which made it harder for him to stay warm. It's a pretty common sight at our house to see me sitting on the sofa sweating in a T-shirt and shorts, while he's bundled up in quilts like Nanook of the North.

A few days ago, hubs asked for a Hershey's kiss from the candy bag on the counter. I passed him one, and when he popped it into his mouth, he casually asked, "Why is the candy soft?" "Because - it's - so - HOT - in - here!" I practically shouted.

Maybe when we build our house here, we can incorporate some little custom environmental zones - a hot spot for him, and a cold one for me :o)

Footing the bill

2010-09-30T08:39:00.015-04:00

Recent foot problems and a trip to the chiropractor led to an unusual (for me) purchase - a pair of Skecher Shape Ups. It was unusual for a couple of reasons - ordinarily I would never consider spending $80 on a pair of sneakers. However, the inability to walk without pain can drive you to do strange things. Second, I wouldn't normally buy a shoe where the sole is shaped like the bottom of a rocking chair. But, what the heck, at that point in time, I would have given shoes with Hovercraft abilities a try.

I have to admit, they took some getting used to. I had to endure the snickers of my family as they watched me try to stand still on these things, but instead, swayed to and fro, trying to find my balance. I had the misfortune of stepping in doggie poo once, and as you can surmise by looking at the treads on the sole, cleanup was no fun.

After I had gotten over the sticker shock somewhat, the chiropractor threw a curve ball my way.

"You know, you'll only be wearing these shoes for about 6 months, 'til your feet get back to normal. Then you'll switch to a "maintenance" shoe with a different shaped sole."

"No, I won't...I just spent $80 on these shoes - I want to be buried in them." Well, I didn't say that, but that's what I was thinking.

I will say that, after a few weeks of wearing the Skechers, I am a convert. My feet feel great, and I don't even wobble around on them anymore. Hmmm, do you think if the chiropractor said they were medically necessary, they would be tax deductible? I'll have to check into that. Hubby also wants a doctor to tell him that an 18' Sea Ray 185 Sport is medically necessary to reduce his stress...guess I'll have to check into that, too :o)

Shoveling Seagrass

2010-09-29T08:58:00.008-04:00

We like to go up occasionally to our lot in Tarpon Springs and hang out, dreaming of the day we'll build our house there. (Yes, we're pretty boring people.) Low tide exposes a beautiful little sandy beach and the sunsets are spectacular.

A few months ago, we noticed sea grass washing up on the beach. As the weeks went by, more and more sea grass washed up until it created a thick, slippery mass of sea grass that made it just about impossible to wade out in the water. After a little research, I discovered that it's a natural annual phenomenon, which essentially turns your shoreline into a big compost pile.

We decided to reclaim our little sandy beach. We purchased a pitchfork and tarp at Home Depot and got busy. A little trial and error directed the removal efforts. The most interesting thing we learned was that there was a top layer that scooped off pretty easily with the pitchfork. Underneath that was a layer that had been decomposing for quite a while, and was basically - muck. Stinky muck. REALLY stinky muck. Hold-your-breath, cover-your-nose-with-your-shirt stinky muck.

We decided to haul the intact seagrass over to a pile to dry out. We spread the muck out in another spot because it looks like it will make a great soil amendment when it dries. After one session, here's what the beach looked like:

A few more sessions should git 'r done, and we'll have our lovely little beach back...'til next year :o)

Advice for Dog Owners

2010-09-28T09:31:00.002-04:00

Never leave your dog alone with a watermelon. Period.

One Little Pepper & How It Grew

2010-09-26T12:55:00.019-04:00

K got a Topsy Turvy planter for her birthday in June and we filled it up with pepper plants. It's grown and grown, and flowered and flowered, but no peppers - until now. A lovely little pepper has appeared.

It's not very big, but I have big plans for it...I'll use about 1/4 of it for a tuna noodle casserole, and split the rest between a batch of Mexiburgers and a homemade pizza. Grow, little pepper, grow!

Steampunk

2010-09-14T21:22:00.009-04:00

Just received a goodie bag from Rings & Things today...they have a drawing each month to give away goodies to their blog partners and this month I was one of the lucky winners!

Here are the goodie bag contents:

Now, to the untrained eye, this may look like a shopping trip to Home Depot. However, to those in the know, these are components used in steampunk design. Whenever I see steampunk items, I think of an old TV show from the 60's that I was crazy about, "The Wild Wild West." Secret service agents West and Gordon guarded President Grant and they alway had the coolest futuristic gadgets!

What exactly IS steampunk, you may ask? It's tough for me to describe, so I'll just quote the definition on dictionary.com:

"a genre of science fiction set in Victorian times when steam was the main source of machine power"

O-o-o-kay. Still a little vague. To give you a better idea of the style, here are a couple of Etsy items by artisans who do steampunk design:

This beautiful piece by Cerriousdesigns is actually a USB drive. Steampunk frequently has gears and an aged patina look. For more info on this item, click this link: http://www.etsy.com/listing/54001079

Here's another great steampunk piece:

This beauiful cuff bracelet is by edmdesigns. Notice the use of gears, metal and the industrial feel of the sawtooth blade. For more information on this piece, click on the following link:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/52679246/

Now, I will be the first to admit that I've never made a steampunk item in my life, and I'm not sure I could. However, I've had several requests to make some masculine phone charms, and I think that the industrial look of the steampunk components would make a fine "man charm" :o) So excuse me, but I've got some designing to do!

Where were you on this day?

2010-09-11T10:16:00.004-04:00

I had just dropped my daughter off at school and come home. I had a a little while where I could weed some flowerbeds before I needed to go shower and get ready to pick my mom up at the airport. She was coming in to town to visit for Grandparents' Day at my daughter's school.

While I was weeding, my cell phone rang. It was my sister. When I saw it was her, I was afraid that Mom had gotten ill and couldn't make the trip.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Have you seen the news?"

"No, why? What's going on?"

"Well, a couple of planes have hit the Twin Towers in New York...they've grounded all flights in the U.S. It's bad."

"WHAT?"

I could not picture what was happening in NY, but knowing that every flight in the U.S. was grounded told me that this was something truly horrible.

"Go inside and turn on the news. It's bad. Mom's at home; she hadn't left for the airport yet, but she won't be coming for a while. It's bad."

I rushed in and watched the news in horror. Other news began to surface, like a plane down in Pennsylvania, and another hitting the Pentagon. I went to pick my daughter up at school, talked to my husband on the phone. I wanted to have those I was closest to, close to me.

In the days and weeks that followed, I remember fighting off panic as the story unfolded. I no longer felt safe. My heart broke for the people who had lost loved ones. The stories of the heroism that surfaced were unbelievable. I will always remember 9/11/2001.

A Box of Checks

2010-09-08T09:48:00.005-04:00

I had put it off as long as I could, but yesterday I finally broke down and went to the bank to order a new box of checks. Now, why would this be something I would put off, you might think? The fact of the matter is, I knew we would need to change our address from our old house in Orlando to our new location, a campground in Largo. I felt that putting our new address on our checks would make it official...we are now - TRAILER TRASH.

Never mind that we still OWN the house in Orlando and are trying to sell it in a terrible economy. Never mind that we have 80 acres in Monroe County, AL, to use when we retire. Never mind that we have saved throughout our careers to have adequate retirement funds in our IRAs and pension plans. Our official address is now a campground, and that kinda smarts.

However, when I look around at the rest of the "trailer trash", I see an awful lot of nice people. On one side of us is a lady in a modest camper with her cat; she's working in Clearwater while her husband holds down the fort at their home in the Carolinas. On the other side of us is a family with a son who homeschools; they moved from a large home to a camper here because the husband had been spending hours commuting to his job in St. Pete. Next to them is a very nice lady who's a retired guidance counselor and psychologist. She has a young Cavalier the same color as ours; she offers frequently to have our dog come visit for play dates. Behind us is an elderly widow with a shy Chihuahua; we occasionally chat while we're out dog-walking.

So, all in all, it's not so bad, and (hopefully) a temporary thing :o)

Save the "25"

2010-05-23T14:54:00.006-04:00

We had the blessing of celebrating our 25th anniversary last week. Actually, it was on the 18th, and we didn't so much celebrate as we did just take note of it. I didn't want the occasion to slip by without doing something special, so I ordered a special cake from Cake City in Safety Harbor. This lady really does works of art. I described in very general terms what I wanted and here is the lovely cake she came up with.

We took it to the pool to share at a weekly Friday evening social. One lady joked that we should freeze the "25" - she said we could take it out to use it for our 52nd anniversary. I said, "Yeah, I'll be 82 and he'll be 84." I hope we make it that long. Here's a photo of the bride and groom...wish I had an old one to post for comparison, but all that stuff's in storage.

We got a picture of us recreating the cake-cutting moment. It reminds me of an anecdote I read years ago in Reader's Digest. A lady attended an anniversary party for an elderly couple. She noted that, as they sat next to each other, they constantly held hands. She commented to the older lady, "I think it's so sweet that, after all these years, you two still hold hands." The older lady replied, "Honey, if we ever let go, we'd kill each other!"

The Cat's IN the Bag

2010-05-19T10:01:00.002-04:00

This cat's IN the bag - and she has a definite preference for Vera Bradley. (She IS a little miffed that they retired her favorite pattern!)

Get Your Ducks in a Row

2010-05-17T16:17:00.003-04:00

Saw the cutest thing this weekend. A mama duck was trying to lead her 13 babies over to a nearby canal, but the installation of a new fence had apparently blocked her old path. She waddled frantically up and down the length of the fence until a good Samaritan dug a little hole under the fence for everyone to get through.

Have had lab tests and MRI done to discover (hopefully) the cause of the vision loss in my left eye and allow it to be treated so that my vision is (hopefully) restored. Will let you know how it goes.

Better Letter Answers

2010-04-21T01:23:00.002-04:00

Did you have any luck with my word puzzle? Okay, just in case you're still working on it, I'll give you a hint: the category that all the new words belong to is "animals".

Now, to see the answers, scroll on down....
***** A N S W E R S B E L O W *****
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****
***** *****

dig dog
car cat
deck duck
house horse
sheer sheep

Hope you had fun!

Better Letter

2010-04-16T21:40:00.003-04:00

Here's a fun word game that's easy to play - my version is called "Better Letter" and I make up all the puzzles myself. It works like this - I give you a list of five words. You must change one and only one letter in each word to make a NEW word. All the new words will be related to each other in a secret category. Give it a try - I'll post the answers in a day or two!

Dig __ __ __

Car __ __ __

Deck __ __ __ __

House __ __ __ __ __

Sheer __ __ __ __ __

Tip: The letter which changes can be any letter, not just the first one.

Color Blind?

2010-04-13T23:02:00.003-04:00

Just grabbed an Etsy Treasury...I forgot how much fun it is to put one together.

This one will be up for 3 days if you'd like to take a look :o) Just click on the link below:

Color Blind?

The Middle Wife

2010-03-30T11:41:00.002-04:00

Credit goes to my cousin Pam, who sent me this hysterical e-mail - it's too funny not to share!

The 'Middle Wife'
by an
anonymous second grade teacher

When I was a kid, I loved show-and-tell. So I always have a few sessions with my students. It helps them get over shyness and usually, show-and-tell is pretty tame. Kids bring in pet turtles, model airplanes, pictures of fish they catch, stuff like that. And I never, ever place any boundaries or limitations on them. If they want to lug it in to school and talk about it, they're welcome.

Well, one day this little girl, Erica, a very bright, very outgoing kid, takes her turn and waddles up to the front of the class with a pillow stuffed under her sweater.

She holds up a snapshot of an infant. 'This is Luke, my baby brother, and I'm going to tell you about his birthday.'

'First, Mom and Dad made him as a symbol of their love, and then Dad put a seed in my Mom's stomach, and Luke grew in there. He ate for nine months through an umbrella cord.'

She's standing there with her hands on the pillow, and I'm trying not to laugh and wishing I had my camcorder with me. The kids are watching her in amazement.

'Then, about two Saturdays ago, my Mom starts saying and going, 'Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh!' Erica puts a hand behind her back and groans. 'She walked around the house for, like an hour, 'Oh, oh, oh!' (Now this kid is doing a hysterical duck walk and groaning.)

'My Dad called the middle wife. She delivers babies, but she doesn't have a sign on the car like the Domino's man. They got my Mom to lie down in bed like this.' (Then Erica lies down with her back against the wall.)

'And then, pop! My Mom had this bag of water she kept in there in case he got thirsty, and it just blew up and spilled all over the bed, like psshhheew!' (This kid has her legs spread with her little hands miming water flowing away. It was too much!)

'Then the middle wife starts saying 'push, push,' and 'breathe, breathe. They started counting, but never even got past ten. Then, all of a sudden, out comes my brother. He was covered in yucky stuff that they all said it was from Mom's play-center, (placenta) so there must be a lot of toys inside there. When he got out, the middle wife spanked him for crawling up in there.'

Then Erica stood up, took a big theatrical bow and returned to her seat. I'm sure I applauded the loudest.. Ever since then, when it's show-and-tell day, I bring my camcorder, just in case another 'Middle Wife' comes along.

Lucky Me

2010-01-14T14:26:00.003-05:00

Lucky me! I received an expresso/cappucino maker for Christmas. It actually was an effort to economize, since I discovered hot lattes at the drive-thrus at Mickey D's and Dunkin' Donuts, and had to have one almost every time I drove past.

Now I get to have a luscious latte anytime I want - and I get to enjoy looking at it all pretty in one of my glass mugs, instead of hidden in a styrofoam cup with a snap-on lid!

The only thing I need to do is get the hang of that little frothing thing on the side - I swear I look like that Bounty commercial of the couple and the mess they make with their cappucino maker - only 10 times worse. I did discover that if I don't clean it immediately after steaming the milk, it will suck up an entire cup of water, and you will sit there for 30 minutes waiting for the steam to run out!!

If Animals Could Talk

2010-01-13T22:44:00.005-05:00

With the cold weather, the animals like to pile in bed with hubs and me - last night was a three dog (plus one cat) night.

Got some cute shots of our cat Sheba and Casey. They are quite the pals.

I can just imagine what they might be saying to each other:

Casey: "Hmm, your perfume is delightful - what's it called?"

Sheba: "Essence de la jolie chatte - you like?"

Sheba: "Casey, hold still - you've got a little schmutz on the side of your nose."

Casey, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

2010-01-12T19:17:00.020-05:00

The youngest puppy in our dog pack is Casey, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, who is about 8 months old.

It all started when my daughter and I began to visit a nearby puppy store on Saturdays, while Jim went to Orlando to do yard work at our old house. We talked Jim into going one Sunday afternoon. As he walked by the CKC spaniel cage, the little girl pup stood up on her hind legs to be picked up. Jim obliged, and she snuggled next to his neck for a long time. When he started to put her down, she tried to hang on to his shoulder. We went back several Sundays in a row, and by then, Jim was completely smitten. We took her home in September.

Casey loves her peeps and always wants to be in someone's lap. She expects to ride to school each day to drop off and pick up my daughter. She practically does backflips when Jim gets home at night. What a great addition to our family!

Meet Angel

2010-01-11T14:34:00.005-05:00

This is Angel, our 9-year-old Pekingese. She's the old lady of our dog pack. She's quite a sweetheart, for those of you who've heard that Pekingeses tend to be snippy little dogs.

She was very fascinated with this box of

papers...I finally figured out that I had dropped a few kibbles of the dog food into it as I was scooping the food out of the bin. The last straw for Angel was when I set the empty dog food carton into the box to go out for recycling. She climbed into the box and curled up as if to say, "No, I can't bear to part with it!"

2009 Recap

2010-01-08T14:45:00.003-05:00

I feel like a slacker for not sending out cards for the 2nd or 3rd year in a row. However, I love getting cards from family and friends, especially those with a letter highlighting everyone's year. So although it's a tad late, I thought I'd give you a recap of our 2009 (it will probably help explain why we haven't sent out cards :o) )

January began with Jim in job-hunting mode. He had lost his office manager job at an Orlando engineering firm in Sept. 2008, following a company merger. What would normally have been a little bump in the road took on sinkhole status as the economy took a nose-dive in Oct. 2008.

Realizing that the job market in Orlando was pretty bleak, Jim begin looking nationwide for a similar job. We decided in March to put our house on the market to prepare for an eventual move. In April, Jim accepted an offer from Greenhorne and O'Mara to be their office manager in Clearwater, FL.

We decided to take our 5th wheel to a campground in Largo, FL so that Jim could stay there during the week, and come home on the weekends. During the summer, my daughter and I began to spend a week in Largo, and then come home for a week.

By August we decided to stay in Largo full-time so that our daughter could take a couple of classes at a local private school, while continuing to be a homeschooler.

After 8 months of listing with an agent, we decided to take our house off the market. And to make a long story short, our next-door neighbors decided to rent our house and we signed a purchase agreement with them to close on or before June 9, 2010.

After we close, we'll be able to purchase a home here. We've run across a house that's finished on the outside, but just studs on the inside. We've love to get in and finish it ourselves. Timing is important, so we hope it will still be on the market when we get our money out of our old house.

We added a new member to our family in September, Casey the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel - she's a little doll! That puts us up to 4 dogs, 1 cat, 1 guinea pig and 2 robo hamsters.

So that's our year in a nutshell. We feel very blessed. We're all in good health, Jim has a good job, and our daughter's in a good school. I'm doing local craft shows twice a month just for fun, and have a shop on Etsy called CellChic.

Hope everyone has a happy and prosperous 2010!!

Continued cold

2010-01-07T14:46:00.009-05:00

OK, this is just TOO cold for Largo, Florida - the temperature dipped into the 30's last night...I'm having to wear socks with my sandals - haha.

Everyone likes to snuggle up inside with the (electric) fireplace going, and stay warm as best they can. Sheba, our cat, has a couple of nice strategies:

If alone, Sheba curls up into the tightest ball that she can - she's hardly recognizable as a cat!
It cracks me up how she invariably tilts her chin skyward when laying like this.

If there's an available lap, Sheba will opt for that, stretching out in a "boneless kitty" fashion. Not only is it a good deal for her, but the lap provider gets warm, too!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-05T14:27:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year to all!!

Just returned to our snug camper with a popcorn shrimp basket from DQ - I originally headed there craving a chili cheese hot dog, but opted for the shrimp at the last minute...maybe it's a teenier bit of a healthy choice.

Glad to have the holidays over, and get back to "normal" - as normal as you can be in a 5th wheel with 3 people, 4 dogs, a cat, a guinea pig and 2 robo hamsters. It is so COLD here in Largo - today is in the 40's...I know that sounds whiny to a lot of people in colder climes, but this is FLORIDA!!! Your blood gets thin after being here a while.

Did a fun craft show last Saturday - the Ybor City Saturday Market. I've signed up to do the first Saturday each month. A lovely lady who is the daughter of a classmate of my Dad's came by the booth - Dad had sent her some Vallagret cheese from Miss. State. He gives them out to family at Christmas and had an extra that he wanted her to have. We had a nice chat - she enjoyed telling me a story about how, not long before her mom died, her mom and aunt were on speaker phone with my dad...she said the two little old ladies sounded like they were fussing over which one my dad belonged to. Nice lady - she also purchased the first phone charm of the day.

Donna (left) and Bonnie say "Cheese" - Vallagret Cheese, that is.

Listed my latest phone charm - a Finesse Tech Deck skateboard, which can be removed from the cell phone, played with, and put back on. Skateboard fanatics would LOVE this.

What I'll miss most about this house

2009-11-22T01:13:00.004-05:00

Well, the time has finally arrived - packers were here all day today, putting all our belongings into boxes. It's been a long time since we've been through this process - over 10 years - but it's got an all-too-familiar feel to it!

It's bittersweet to have it FINALLY sink in that we are moving. 10 years in this house is a lifetime record for me. It's been great, but I'm ready to move on with our lives in Clearwater. However, there are several things I'll miss a lot about this house:

1) All the ROOM! It was more than we needed, but it sure was great to have it.

2) The layout of the house was perfect for us. We designed it, we built it, and it was a custom fit.

3) My grandma's tea roses - I have a huge bush growing on a trellis by our fence. I started mine from a clipping from my sister, who got HER bush from a clipping from grandma's house. Grandma and her homestead are long gone, but the tea roses are a lovely reminder. I'm going to try to get a clipping to take with us.

4) Our nice, fenced backyard. Leash-walking 4 hounds daily is definitely a lot more work than turning them out into the backyard!

It's been a lovely home, but I know that we will take the next one, and make it a lovely home, too. After all, I have with me my hubby and daughter, and that's what makes a place a lovely home to me.

Happy Birthday to Hubby

2009-11-20T00:46:00.003-05:00

Holy smokes!! I had no idea it had been so long since I posted to my blog. It seems that my last post was around the time that DD and I came over to Largo to stay full-time. Guess it's been kinda busy since then :o)

Well, I really wanted to get back to it, and there' no time like the present - and speaking of present - it was DH's 57th birthday today. After almost 25 years of marriage, it can be a little tough to come up with gift ideas. Fortunately, he told me exactly what he wanted and even helped me look it up on the Internet - a Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas X joystick (whew! that's a mouthful) for playing flight simulator games on the PC. UPS delivered it in the nick of time this morning and DH has already broken it in this evening - says he loves it!

I also gave him a photo for his office of our latest family addition, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel - here it is:

She's a sweetheart!

We went out to Olive Garden for dinner - had an excellent Caprese flatbread appetizer (that led later to a little research on "Caprese" - turned out to be a nice little geography and culinary lesson). We found the recipe online so now I think we'll try making it at home. Here's the link if you'd like to take a look: http://www.recipezaar.com/Olive-Garden-Caprese-Flatbread-319431

OK, the whole place is snoozing, so I'd better jump in bed, too. Good night!

{ { { F A V O R I T E S } } } Treasury

2009-08-26T22:28:00.005-04:00

Well, FINALLY, I was able to get a treasury! I had had a poster sketch ready for ages, but always missed it.

I went back to the Etsy shops which I had marked as favorites since I opened my shop, and picked out my latest favorites.

(left to right)
1st row:
beadstylin
maiaart
ivylanedesigns
2nd row:
adustyframe
mompotter
dennisanderson
3rd row:
bathnbeads
emptynestegg
shadysidefarm
4th row:
maidofclay
ixela
unkamengifts

These guys all have lovely, unique items in their shops. If you're not already an Etsy shopper, get yourself a user name and go take a look - it's fabulous!

Things I Learned Last Week (2nd ed.)

2009-08-23T12:27:00.008-04:00

Whose says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? I learned some more things last week that I thought I would share:

1. Do not ever, under any circumstances, go to Wal-Mart the weekend before school starts. This goes double for you if you're sensitive to noise, or if you're the teeniest bit claustrophobic.

2. When you see a puppy at the pet store which has been marked down and is "on sale", it will break your heart, and you will be tempted to take it home, even though you already have 3 dogs, a cat, 3 roborovski hamsters, and a guinea pig.

3. You don't realize how much you depend on your credit and debit cards until the local convenience store only takes cash because they were struck by lightning right before you get there, and you're so desperate for a diet Coke, that you frantically dig through your wallet until you come up with enough change to buy one.

4. Never walk across a freshly sealed road or you will end up with tar all over the bottom of your waffle-soled shoes.

5. When you use a front-load washer, make sure you read the little sticker that tells you to ONLY use 2 tablespoons of liquid detergent, instead of the usual capful. (Take an extra 5 quarters just in case you forget, so that you can wash everything twice.)

Treasury x 5

2009-08-19T17:08:00.052-04:00

I was thrilled to see that I'm in 5 treasuries today - I think that's a record for me! Four of them are curated by my lovely teammates on the Schooling at Home Etsian team (SHEteam), while one is curated by a new acquaintance from Paris.

"She is Lovely" is curated by my friend Mary, better known as EmptyNestEgg. She makes the most amazing, intricate designs out of teeny, tiny beads. She featured my latest design, "Unakite Delight" top row, center.

Thanks, Mary!

"SHE is so soft!" is curated by Ham ncheezr, another SHEteam member. I think she captured the "soft" mood perfectly with her selections! She was kind enought to include my pastel lavender and green
Swarovski phone charm, second row, right.

Thanks, Hamncheezr!

"Cup of Joe" is another treasury curated by EmptyNestEgg - lovely shades of coffee brown plus a wonderful mug by ellemardesigns to put it in! A wooden phone charm made from vintage beads is on the top row, right.

Thanks again, Mary!

"rOunDed Beautifully" is curated by SHEteamer allthesethings, and features lots of round curves from the homeschoolers. My Mosaic black lip shell and mother of pearl charm in 3rd row, left.

Thanks, allthesethings!

"RASPBERRY CREAM" is a great treasury by YannPendaries, an artisan from Paris. He featured my Girly Drama Phone Charm, 4th row, left. An interesting bit of trivia - top row, left, is by Yann's fiancee, Malam.

Thanks, Yann!

Ooooo so pretty!

2009-08-16T11:50:00.003-04:00

I was very happy to see that I was included in this treasury by DESIGNbyHELEN. She included my purple charoite phone charm.

Thank you, DESIGNbyHELEN!

Golden Hearts

2009-08-14T00:44:00.008-04:00

I was excited to be listed in this lovely treasury today. My item is the Lemon Meringue Phone Charm. This treasury, "Golden Hearts" was curated by Kanokwalee. I happened to feature a gorgeous aqua-colored cowl by her in my treasury a couple of days ago (see previous post).

Thanks for the feature, Kanokwalee!

Here's my latest phone charm - it's my SHEteam challenge item for August....our theme is "Back to School". In case you don't recognize them, they're purple pencil toppers!

To see all of the neat challenge items for August, go to Etsy and search for "sheteamschoolcha".

Latest Treasury

2009-08-13T03:25:00.007-04:00

This is kind of a learning experience for me...I wanted to figure out how to post a copy of a treasury onto my blog, so here goes.

Well, that wasn't too hard - you can click on the image to zoom in to a larger view. I had been working with some turquoise Swarovski crystals, and was inspired to create a turquoise treasury. While trying to think of an intriguing name, I ran across some information about the Mediterranean beaches in Turkey, and how beautiful the water is...a place named Oludeniz was supposed to be the prettiest, so that became the name.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, a SHEteammate of mine, TerrBear37, was also being inspired by the color turquoise...she was kind enough to include my latest phone charm in her treasury (top row, left). Thank you, Terri! Link to this treasury for a closer look at these items.

Honeymoon Island

2009-08-08T12:06:00.013-04:00

Yesterday K. and I went out around 6-ish to check out a new beach at Honeymoon Island State Park. We had heard that it had excellent shelling and that's really my favorite part of being at the beach.

We arrived well equipped - we had masks and snorkels, and round floats, plus shell bags. Our plan was to don masks and snorkels and drape ourselves over the floats with our faces down in the water, leisuring searching for shells. After a short while of doing this, I started to feel distinctly ICKY. At first, I thought maybe the taste of the new snorkel was bugging me, or the scent of the new mask on my face, or maybe the odd sulfurish smell at the beach. I eventually realized that I was feeling seasick from all the bobbing up and down in the waves! What a wuss!

After sitting upright for a little while, the feeling passed, and we did find some nice shells. A thunderstorm ran us off the beach after about an hour, but I wouldn't mind going back again, maybe with some Dramamine in my system :o)

Listed some new items recently in my shop:

This is a brand new "effect" from Swarovski called Red Magma. Supposedly an "effect" is different from a "finish" or a new crystal color. An effect is somehow built into the crystal, where a finish is basically a coating applied on top. Red Magma is a neat, reddish orange color with a highly reflective surface.

This is a peridot nugget phone charm. Peridot is a kind of olivine, and is also the birthstone of August. It's a lovely, glassy green gemstone.

Oh, and last thing, one of my items made the front page on Etsy on Thursday - in the Etsy world, that's a big deal, and a lot of free publicity. Go to www.craftcult.com/vault and click on "search for member" and type in "cellchic". It will pull up the list I was in - see if you can guess which one is my item :o)

My Favorite Things

2009-07-29T12:38:00.019-04:00

Just a quickie post today - I promised K. that we'd go to the beach after we eat, so we need to hustle! I've been wanting to share a few of my Etsy favorites for a while, so here they are:

This is a carved ostrich egg by Eggstreme - this is just phenomenal! The shop is owned by Mike Sims in Huntsville, AL. Visit eggstreme.etsy.com to see all his gorgeous items.

This item fascinates me!! I have featured it in several treasuries. It's a pencil urchin by jenmaestre. She has them in different colors, or can do something custom.

My final favorite to share today is anything from ENUWBE's shop. This lady has made a commitment to (as her banner says)
organic, sustainable, eco friendly clothing. For example, this dress is, amazingly enough, made primarily from bamboo fiber. She has a lot of wonderful designs in her shop, and custom makes each order to fit her client. Visit her at http://enuwbe.etsy.com/.

Have a great Wednesday, all!

The Bird Feeder (AKA DH vs. the squirrels)

2009-07-27T11:10:00.008-04:00

We are trying to make RV life a little more homey, since we're going to be doing this until the house in Orlando sells. So I bought an inexpensive birdfeeder so that we could enjoy watching a little of the feathered wildlife at our campground.

DH (being the family's resident engineer) took on the task of hanging the bird feeder from a nearby tree. He threw a piece of thick twine over a branch, fastened the bird feeder to one end about 6 feet off the ground, and tied the other end to a concrete block on the ground. The bird feeder was actually about 2 inches away from the trunk of the tree, which looked like perfect squirrel food to me, but I decided to keep quiet and watch the story unfold.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the squirrels hang by their back feet from the tree, while their front feet held on to the feeder and they enjoyed the bird seed buffet.

DH decided he would slide the line of twine further out along the branch to get the bird feeder away from the trunk. The next morning we found the feeder on the ground, its contents spilled out, and the cord still dangling from the tree.

Determinedly, DH refastened the bird feeder to the twine, and the next day, the feeder was again on the ground. DH said he was beginning to feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack (remember the gopher?).

DH's latest ploy was to straighten a wire clothes hanger, and use that to fasten the bird feeder to the hanging twine. So far, so good - I just saw a squirrel sitting on the feeder, helping themseles, but at least the wire isn't breaking :o)

Just listed a new item on CellChic yesterday. I LOVE this bead that I picked up at the Rings & Things Bead Tour in Orlando recenly. It's made out of Black Lip Shell (that was a new one for me) and Mother of Pearl in a great checked pattern.

No Strap Holes? No Problem!

2009-07-23T19:57:00.010-04:00

As you may be able to tell from my Etsy shop name, I'm crazy about cell phone charms. I love the way they add an individual's own personal style to their phone. A lot of people have told me that their phones don't have the strap holes to thread the charm straps through. After some research, I found a product that does a great job of solving this problem.

It's a little round acrylic strap button, which has adhesive on the back to stick to your phone. Once it's firmly secured to your phone, you can get your cell phone looking stylish by threading through the phone charm of your choice. Some people even put more than one on and hang multiple charms on their phones.

The button is approximately 9/16" in dismeter (about 14mm) and is about 7/32" high (about 5.5mm).

Check it out at cellchic.etsy.com!

Things I Learned Last Week

2009-07-19T18:30:00.005-04:00

I learned a few interesting things last week I thought I would share:

1) Don't trust a Garmin when you are driving around Clearwater, FL...the roads are all smushed together and Lola (our name for our Garmin) really can't tell if we're on Hwy 19, a frontage road, or a SuperTarget parking lot. Hopefully your Garmin will get you in the vicinity; then you'll have to follow your nose and get really good at doing U-turns.

2) You can't really MAKE anyone else do anything that they really don't want to do. Well, that's really all I can say about that!

3) When your cat hides just before you leave for a car trip, think of the last place you would look for her, and then go look there first. Take reinforcements with you to help drag her out of her hiding place.

4) No matter how hard you try to pack everything you need, you will end up making a run to the SuperWalMart at 3 a.m.

5) Some people have small children at the SuperWalMart at 3 a.m.

6) A good night's sleep makes everything seem better :o)

7) Checking your Etsy shop 50 times a day will not help anything sell.

Donna's SkyVenture Flight

2009-07-09T15:49:00.007-04:00

I had a great experience today - I visited SkyVenture Orlando, an indoor skydiving wind tunnel. I've always wanted to try it, and finally went. I had some trepidation about hurling my 54-year-old body into a 125 mph blast of air, but I worked up my courage and did it...it was great fun!

We had a training session with our instuctor, who showed us the basic belly down position and hand signals...the hardest part of that for me was climbing up and down off the practice table without hurting myself :o) We put on flight suits, goggles, ear plugs, and helmets, and headed off to the wind tunnel.

I had psyched myself up to put aside my fears and dive into the chamber like a stuntwoman in a spy movie - until we got downstairs and I saw paramedics working on a guy (about my age) who was clutching his shoulder and appeared to be in excruciating pain. Thank goodness my 14-year-old daughter was there, and I was trying to set a brave example for her - otherwise I would have made a break for the exit!

As you can see from this video, there was no reason to worry, my two 1-minute flights were great! I also included a little demonstration at the end by our instructor Chris, who shows what you can do with a little (or a lotta) practice.

I Love My Beading Bowl

2009-06-22T19:19:00.013-04:00

I have a new addition to my beading supplies that I really love - a beading bowl! Actually it was an experiment of my husband's to do something he'd always want to do - turn a bowl on his lathe. He got a 2x10 piece of pine and puttered around one day and created this shallow bowl. I loved the grain of the wood and shape of the bowl, so I put it out on our coffee table.

As with many things in our house, it shared the coffee table with my current beading project. One day when I didn't have an available bead board for a project, I dumped all my supplies into the bowl and went to work. Now I have totally claimed the bowl as one of my beading accessories. It's great for making phone charms, since they're small and don't have to be laid out like a bracelet or necklace.

Here are the latest phone charms I've made, using my Rings and Things shopping spree and my pretty bead bowl, of course :o)

Faceted Carnelian and Rhodonite Puffed Ovals

Leopardskin Jasper and Swarovski

Faceted Fiber Optic Beads

An Etsy Listing a Day...

2009-06-20T19:32:00.002-04:00

I heard that if you share one of your goals with someone, you're more likely to achieve it, because once other people know about it, it helps you stay more committed to your goal...okay, so here's mine.

I've been trying to think of a strategy to build up my CellChic shop, inventory and sales-wise - I've heard that you should list or relist often to be near the top of a search stack. I decided that I would try to add 1 item a day to my shop. I'll work on this until I reach 120 items - also, I'll relist any items when they sell - that hasn't been too hard to keep up with ;o)

When I get to 120, the first items I listed should start to expire and then I'll renew those listings, which will keep me with new listings on a regular basis.

I've done this almost each day so far in June and it seems pretty workable.

Well, OK, that's my strategy, so I'm going to give it a try, I 'll let you know how it works.

Ya Learn Somethin' New All the Time

2009-06-18T23:19:00.008-04:00

I had heard that cell phone charms are something of a cultural phenomenom in Japan. EVERYONE has one on their phone. It occurred to me that, since Etsy is a worldwide marketplace, I should make sure that someone from Japan would run across my CellChic shop when searching for charms. I decided that I needed to find out the Japanese phrase for "cell phone charm" and tag my items with it.

After a bit of googling, I finally found it --- keitai strap! Keitai is the word used for cell phones, and they call the charms keitai straps...I even found the Kanji characters, and tried to cut and paste them, but Etsy didn't take kindly to that. So I did tag a dozen of my items with "keitai strap" and I'll be interested to see if Google Analytics shows any hits from Japan - we shall see :o)

I made a few more charms with the beads I picked up at the Rings-n-Things Bead Tour - here are some pix:

Faceted Tigereye

Red, White & Blue

Chinese Charoite

Snakeskin Jasper

500 Miles Later, Back at Home

2009-06-15T22:55:00.008-04:00

Today I drove from Orlando to Tallahassee and back, about 500 miles, operating on about 4 hours sleep...I'm so full of caffeine I don't know if I'll ever sleep again! Lest you think this is the type of thing I do for fun, let me explain...I took DD up there, and met my niece, who drove over from Mobile. She took DD back to Mobile with her to spend 10 days with my sister. Now I'm back home, waiting to crash - in case I just keel over, the dogs are fed, my teeth are brushed and flossed, and I have on my jammies :o)

I've made several phone charms with my Rings-n-Things haul - here are some photos:

Striped Mother of Pearl

Mookaite Teardrop

Yummy Gumdrop
(Rainbow New Jade)

Rings-n-Things Bead Tour

2009-06-14T22:19:00.008-04:00

Last Wednesday was SUCH a fun afternoon...Rings-n-Things brought their annual Bead Tour into town. They had a room set up with tables and tables full of the most wonderful beads. Most prices were half of the tag price minus 15%...and the REALLY fun part was that I had a $100 gift certificate to spend - I had gotten it for winning 3rd prize in CraftyNation's recent Craft-off Contest. It was such a blast deciding what to get :o) So thank you, CraftyNation, for sponsoring the contest, and thank you, Rings-n-Things for providing such a great prize. And especially thank you to the people who voted for my project! Here are a couple of pictures of my Rings-n-Things loot - these are gonna make some great phone charms!

And the Family's All Together

2009-06-05T15:13:00.002-04:00

DH will be coming home tonight from his work week in Clearwater...DD and I and all the critters have been alternating - a week in Clearwater in the RV, and then a week at home for me to recuperate :o), so this was our week at home.

I'm not sure what DH has been scrounging up for dinner each night, so tonight I decided to do some burgers on the grill. I have a really tasty burger recipe that even DD will eat, and I swear that she has the pickiest palate on the planet. (Say THAT 3 times fast!) Here's my recipe:

MexiBurgers
2 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1/2 green pepper, finely chopped
2 - 3 onion slices, finely chopped
1 t. cumin
1 t. coriander

Mix together and form patties. Grill on low for 20 min., flipping halfway through. Top with favorite cheese slices just after removing from grill. Serve on whole grain buns.

A couple of notes: I buy the absolute leanest beef I can buy - it's usually 96/4. The burgers don't shrink much at all. I make 6-oz. burgers for DH, and 3-oz burgers for me and DD. I cook the smaller burgers on the cooler areas of the grill. This recipe freezes really well. I can usually make 8 or 9 burgers from the above recipe (3 large and 6 small).

If you're feeding kids, make sure you chop the veggies really, really fine...kids don't like finding chunks of veggies in their burgers, but they usually like the flavors that the finely chopped veggies impart.

Happy grilling!

Get yourself in a lather

2009-06-04T12:14:00.019-04:00

If you've never tried handmade soap, you're really missing out! I'm fortunate enough to have a sister who likes to whip up a few soap batches every now and then, and she keeps me supplied. I haven't used store-bought soap in AGES.

However, if she ever gives up soap-making, I won't despair...Etsy has a wealth of talented soapmakers who can keep me supplied at reasonable prices. And if you aren't familiar with Etsy (gasp!), go to http://www.etsy.com/ , for the ULTIMATE handcrafted shopping experience on earth!. Once there, just type "soap" into the search box, along with any additional keywords (i.e. lavender, goat's milk, massage, etc.), and you'll be swimming in choices :o)

Here is just a sample of some fabulous soap artisans on the web:

ElegantRoseBoutique.etsy.com

This homeschooling mom of 8 (!) has a wonderful array of soaps in her shop. The picture to the left is her Minty Rose Shea Butter.

dennisanderson.etsy.com

Dennis is a full-time soapmaker whose shop just makes me drool! This is his Lemon Luster Shea Butter Massage Bar (VEGAN Friendly). If you love luxurious soap, you're depriving yourself if you don't go visit his shop!!

ROSSoaps.etsy.com

Of course, ROSSoaps has plenty of gorgeous soaps, but here is a GREAT idea for trying out handmade soap at a bargain basement price. Occasionally a soapmaker has some bars that may be miscut, misshapen, underweight, or underscented. It is still their wonderful, skin-loving soap and SUCH a bargain! Check any soapmaker's store for these "ugly" or "oops" bars.

The Perils of Perfectionism

2009-06-03T13:06:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted in so long, because I was waiting to have the time to sit down and do the "perfect" post - you know, witty, great pictures, something fascinating and/or inspirational and/or educational.

Well, I just read an e-mail from my mentor FLYLady yesterday, talking about the perils of perfectionism. (If you're not familiar with her, she's a WONDERFUL help for those of us who live in CHAOS (the "Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome"), and who are SHE's (Sidetracked Home Executives). Visit her at www.flylady.net - anyway, here I go getting sidetracked :o) )

True perfectionists procrastinate because they don't have time to do things "right"...the end result - they don't get anything done. So I'm going to post to my blog, even if it's not the "perfect" post. Even if there's nothing earthshaking to say...at least it will keep me in touch with my family and friends, and let them know about what's going on in my everyday life, when I don't get to see them everyday :o) God bless!

Donna

Do You Know About GMO's?

2009-05-11T20:47:00.005-04:00

Here's another food topic that caught my interest - GMO's.

GMO means "genetically modified organism", and it refers to an organism which has had its genetic material altered by genetic engineering. The largest application for this technology is in our food supply...many crops are grown which contain genetic modifications to make the plants resistant to herbicides and to make them produce pesticidal proteins.

The use of GMO's in our food chain is very controversial. Some say they're safe and others say they're not. The interesting thing is that the U.S. does not require labeling of any food products which are GMO's, so it's difficult to know what you are eating.

If I have a choice, I'd rather eat something that has not been genetically modified...many non-GMO's are labelled as such, but they can be hard to find. Health food stores, such as Whole Foods, and the "green" section of your local supermarkets, would be good places to look for non-GMO foods. For example, my Publix has a great buttery spread called "Earth Balance", which labels itself as non-GMO. Also, if you have a garden, be sure to shop for non-GMO seeds to make sure you know what you're growing.

All Decafs are not Created Equal

2009-05-09T12:17:00.006-04:00

I had discussed this on my first blog, but this was such a great discovery for us, that I wanted to share it with everyone. (I'm like Oprah that way :oP )

DH has to drink decaf, due to a scary incident with atrial flutter a couple of years ago. When he made the switch, he found that decaf upset his stomach, so he quit coffee altogether, but he really missed it.

Now, that just didn't make sense to me - if all you do is take the caffeine out of coffee, why should what is left upset your stomach if it didn't before? After I did a little research, I found that all decaffeination processeses are not created equal - many companies use chemicals to extract the caffeine from the coffee beans.

However, there is a process called the Swiss Water Process, that uses water and a carbon filtration system to remove caffeine. At the time that I did my research, there was one facility in the world that did this process (it's in Canada), and I think there are a number of different brands who market coffee with beans decaffeinated this way. You can check the can or bag labeling to see if it has the Swiss Water Process trademark.

DH's brand is Cafe Altura Dark Roast Decaf, which we buy locally at the Whole Foods store. It is so yummy - more pricey than regular coffee, but it is one of our few indulgences and we can make one can go a long way! Check out http://www.cafealtura.com/SpecialtyCoffees.html#swp

Joining the Blogging World

2009-05-08T23:44:00.003-04:00

Well, after several false starts, I 've decided to give blogging another try. I enjoy reading other blogs, and felt like I was missing out, so here goes!

My previous attempts were so narrow in focus that I quickly ran out of ideas to talk about. I'm very interested in healthy foods, so the first blog was called FOODFAQs...after a few posts on decaf coffee, whole foods and a couple of other things, that blog was kaput! My next blog was about sweepstakes, because I love to enter them, and have won a few cool prizes over the years. However, I discovered TONS of other web sites with info re: sweepstakes, so that one bit the dust pretty quickly.

Then I finally hit upon a brilliant idea - why don't I just blog about WHATEVER I want? WHAT A CONCEPT! Hopefully I won't run out of ideas - that would be a sad thing :o)

I had an interesting shopping experience tonight - I FINALLY took my new eyeglass prescriptions to Lenscrafters (I've had them since August - I'm not a procrastinator or anything). I knew it had been a long time since I'd gotten new glasses, but I couldn't believe it when they checked their computer and said my last visit was in 2002!! No wonder my current glasses drive me nuts.

I picked out 2 new frames, one for a pair of progressive lenses, and one for a pair of computer glasses. These are my new regular pair...they match my gray hair really well!
I just about choked when I saw the bill total - over $800!! And that was with a 30% AARP discount! I guess it will be another 7 years before I get new ones :o)