Monday, July 12, 2010

Amazing chicken and knee update

First the chicken part …

We had the most amazing chicken for supper tonight. 
It’s called jalapeno chicken.  You have to try it!  I’m not a huge fan of jalapenos but this wasn’t hot at all. 

My friend, Joyce, turned me on to it.  You can find it here on allrecipes.com.  I love this website and use it a ton.   I like that I can put in the ingredients I want to use, do a search and wallah!  with a click of a button and recipes show up.   IMG_3931 Anyway, back to the chicken..we grilled the chicken and paired it with fresh lemony steamed green beans and sautéed garlic new red potatoes  Pure bliss I tell ya!  It was hard to not eat two pieces but I knew how good it was going to taste tomorrow in my lunch so I restrained myself.IMG_3934
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Now for the knee update…
(not that DH should be in second place, but a girls gotta eat, don’t she?  If I don’t eat, I might get weak and be unable to blog!)



By late last night, DH’s knee was really swollen.  I doubt the motorcycle and boat rides yesterday helped that any but they sure were fun! 


DH was able to get into the ortho doctor this morning and it appears as though there was a little more to it than just a strained knee.  


He has a torn anterior ACL and a possible torn meniscus.  He is scheduled for a MRI on Wednesday to confirm the diagnosis and rule out any other issues.  He did have an x-ray and nothing is broken.   Praise God!   If it’s only the ACL, no surgery is required.  If the meniscus is torn and the doc said it’s probable that it is, that will require a day surgery to repair with a relatively short recovery time.  So in the grand scheme of things, he’s darned lucky that he only came home with a knee brace and not a cast.
IMG_3935 Thanks for your comments and emails with good wishes for him.



Gilligan’s Adventure & a 300th post GIVEAWAY!

Let me start with saying I love the water so any opportunity I get to go out on a boat, I jump at the chance.  DH on the other hand, not so much, in fact not at all.  If he could put a life jacket on each extremity, he would.  But he tends to humor me when these rare occasions arise.


Some friends called us yesterday afternoon and asked if we wanted to meet them at a nearby lake and go boating.  Ummmm….let me think about that for a minute – YES!!!   


I wasn’t at home when I got the call and DH was home with ice on his knee(he majorly twisted it on Saturday falling into a 3 ft. deep hole) but I thought of course, he could go along in a boat.  He could sit there with his leg up as well as at home, right?  Why not?


As our luck would have it, on the way there we hit a few sprinkles and the sky was darkening to the west.  We met lots of boats leaving the lake.  Maybe that should have been our first clue??  DH was really starting to question the wisdom in what we were doing about now.


We met R&J and K&K at the marina.  As we were putting the boat in, the rain started in a little heavier.  Pretty soon the skies opened up and the faucet turned on.
R&J’s boat at the dock looking a little like the SS Minnow.  IMG_3907 IMG_3909
R (red shirt) being the good guy he is and helping others who are trying to get off the lake in the monsoon.  Can you see the sheets of rain coming across the lake?


DH trying to get situated and prop his leg up.  K trying to help.IMG_3912  IMG_3917
K(above) & his wife K(below) – We’ve worked with both of these servants for God’s Kingdom through our church activities and feel blessed that we’ve been able to get to know them.
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R&J, the boat owners.  What a great couple.  We’ve just gotten to know them in the last year and enjoy time and conversation spent with them so much.
We finally left the dock in the rain, the canopy never came off because of the rain, we rode around the lake for over an hour in the rain, got extremely wet because of the rain but we laughed and laughed and laughed some more.  There is definitely truth to the statement that “Laughter is good for the soul.”  I haven’t laughed this much or this hard in a long time.
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Skipper R checking and “Yup, it’s still raining.”


Giving it up and guess what?  We weren’t home an hour and the rain stopped.  Go figure! IMG_3920 Rain or no rain, it was still a great afternoon out with some wonderful people!
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And guess what??? This is my 300th post!  Oh my goodness, I started this a couple of years ago as a temporary experiment while in a Web Design class.  300 posts later, I can’t believe it myself.  I’m hosting a giveaway to celebrate 300 posts! 

I’ve decided to focus the giveaway on “quilting” type items as that was one of my main focus’s when I started blogging.  Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to quilt as much as I would like.  I did just finish one project though and am to the quilting point of another one.  However, I can’t show either one yet as they are both for gifts in the next couple of months.
Back to the giveaway…I have a Moda Cotton Blossoms charm pack (I love the prints in this line of fabrics), 2 patterns, a book – Quilts from Heaven by Lucinda Secrest McDowell and who knows what else I might throw in.


Here’s what you need to do:  

  • Comment on this post or any of my posts

  • Tell me how you found my blog.  There isn't a right or wrong answer, just simple curiosity for me.  It doesn't matter if this is your first time visiting me or if you've been with since I was just a wee blogger.

  • Mention the giveaway in your comment so I know you want to enter and I’ll add your name to the drawing.  



I’ll draw the winner this Friday night, July 16th at 9:00pm(CT) or whenever I decide I’m done for the night and sit down at the computer to do it.  My blog, my prerogative, right?  


Feel free to pass this along to whomever you’d like.


Make sure to check back on Saturday to see if you’ve won. If you did, email me with your contact information.  It seems a number of my commenters are “no-reply bloggers” so I will need a way to get your mailing information.


Best of luck and have a great week!















Sunday, July 11, 2010

Stunning Sunday sunset

Oh my goodness, would you look at this sky tonight?  Beautiful!  My little point and shoot camera doesn’t do it justice.IMG_3926 Taken at 9:10 pm

Good night all!

A bit more helmet-cam

We headed out this morning to Poopy’s (yes, that’s the name of the place.  You can also get a tattoo while there – not kidding) for breakfast. 

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We’d never been there for breakfast but their lunch and dinner food is wonderful.  Our vote on breakfast – ehhh!  not so much.  I think we’ll stick to their burgers and fish.  Anyway, here are a few pictures from along the way this morning…

An old stone bridge on remarkably enough…Stone Bridge Road.  I always want to stop and take a picture when we go past this but never seem to get the job done.  Now it’s overgrown with weeds so will probably have to wait until Fall.IMG_3904

Our riding companions for the morning, Bob & TamiIMG_3867

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We love riding the back roads but eventually it seems in Illinois most of them turn into gravel.  :(  Gravel + Motorcycles = not a great combination but we toughed it out and kept going until we hit the next blacktop.

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Barns and grain bins are a very familiar sight around here.  I used to work for the company that owns this grain elevator but I worked at a different location.IMG_3898

We pretty much called it a day on the bike by noon.  DH twisted his knee yesterday and it was really starting to hurt and swell up so we headed home to an ice pack.  DH was sacked out on the couch and I went to the fabric store.  While there, my phone rang from friends to go on another little adventure which I’ll post about tomorrow. 

 

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Thursday night walkabout

I took a walk around the yard tonight not long before sunset.  Can I share what I saw with you?  Yes?  Why, thank you for indulging me.  :)IMG_3837I’ve got a thing for red geraniums and King Tut grass.
IMG_3842My feeble attempt at container gardening…a pepper plant, a tomato plant and a few herbs: basil, parsley, cilantro and chinese chives.
IMG_3848Love ol’ Glory flying out front of the house.
IMG_3843This dinner bell was in my Dad’s family.
 IMG_3844 DH doing one last prep on the soil to plant some sunflowers.
IMG_3845 The saying used to be if your corn was “knee high by the 4th of July” you had a good crop.  How about over my head and tasseling already?   That must mean a really good year, right?
IMG_3846The big flower bed behind the garage looking NW towards our deck.
IMG_3849  Love this mailbox.  Our son, Joe painted it for us for Christmas one year.  I’ll guarantee it’s the only one like it around.IMG_3840 Flower bed in front of the house.  I’ve also got a thing for farm primitives, can you tell?
IMG_3852This lil’ guy holds a special place in my heart.  Our son & then girlfriend, now wife gave this to me a few years ago.  Our boys spent hours and hours on their pedal tractors.  This brings back great memories everytime I look at it.
There you have it, thanks for coming along on my walkabout!


























Monday, July 5, 2010

Summer helmet-cam

Here’s a little “helmet-cam” for you from our motorcycle ride tonight.  And before you go thinking we actually have a fancy helmet camera…I steady my little point and shoot on DH’s helmet.  We’ve come to refer to it as our “helmet-cam.”

75 miles later here’s what we saw… IMG_3794 IMG_3799 IMG_3800 IMG_3804 A little something to make you dizzy.  :)
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 IMG_3812

We got just a little wet.  At least it was warm and not cold and wet.

IMG_3823  IMG_3813IMG_3822  I think the cows thought we were crazy.  I’m not sure if it was the fact that we were taking their picture or mooing at them.  Don’t tell me you’ve never mooed at cows along the road before?!?  It must be a Midwest thing.  ;)

 

mmmm…GOOD!

Black raspberries & ice cream!   mmmm….GOOD!

I bought black raspberries at our local Farmers Market Saturday morning.

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Now, I could pretend that I was proper and eating ice cream out of a bowl but I won’t.  I dumped those luscious berries into the ice cream carton and ate straight outta the carton baby!

Just keepin’ it real.

New friends

I’ve talked about this before but feel it bears repeating.  We’re members of MTN – Motorcycle Travel Network.  What does this mean?    It means for a small membership fee and a $20 cost per night, we can stay with other motorcyclists across the country as we travel.  The only requirements of this fee is for the host home to provide a clean bed and breakfast the next morning.  The other side of this membership is that we also agree to host other couples as our schedule permits.  We’ve utilized this a few times as we’ve traveled and have never been disappointed.  It’s so nice to meet others that have the same interests.   And who better to recommend roads, restaurants, etc than those who live in that area?

Friday, we received an email from Wendell and Marie asking if we were available to host on the 4th.  We don’t mind the last minute calls.  When traveling by bike that’s to be expected as you never know what kind of weather you may run into and not get as far as you thought.  Flexibility is key with a program like this and you can always say no if it doesn’t work with your schedule.

What a great couple these two turned out to be.  They’ve already been on the road a week and were coming through on their way back home to southern Louisiana.   We’ve met some of the nicest folks through this program.  Wendell and Marie were no exception.

We had some people over for a bonfire last night and our new Louisiana friends fit right in with the rest of the group.  What a fun night!

We’re praying for sunshine and safe travels to you Marie & Wendell. 

Wendell Marie Vince

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th everyone!

We don’t do alot of decorating for the 4th around here but since we’re having a picnic tonight, I’ve added a few touches here and there…

IMG_3780 IMG_3774

I gleaned this idea from Debbie over at Of His Pasture.
See,
Debbie, I told you I was going to steal it!  :) 

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IMG_3777 IMG_3778

BLESSED IS THE  NATION WHOSE GOD IS THE LORD – Psalm 33:12

America needs God more than God needs America.  If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”  -- Ronald Reagan

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

 

 

Friday, July 2, 2010

Conversation

2 year old grandson: “vnwoiehfrweivowbvwbvaklc Grandma?”

Grandma: (????? face)

2 year old grandson:  “vnwoiehfrweivowbvwbvaklc Grandma?”

Grandma(hoping to buy time until she figures out what he is saying): “Is that right?”

2 year old grandson(starting to look impatient with Grandma):  “vnwoiehfrweivowbvwbvaklc Grandma?”

Grandma: “Sure honey.”

2 year old grandson (walks away looking very pleased)

Grandma shrugs shoulders having no idea what she just agreed to.  It couldn’t be anything too bad, could it???

Such is the life in a day of babysitting the grands.