To blog or not to blog or better yet - buy a vacuum

Entry #6

Trying to figure this blogging thing out is downright painful! Spent a few hours researching what all of these terms mean and truthfully, all I figured out is that it takes two Tylenol approximately twenty minutes to knock out a stress headache. 

I still haven't figured out how to set up for people to follow my blog, but you can push a button and follow me on Google+ now. I also have a little bar that will allow me to share to Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter etc. Think it might let my blog readers share my scintillating musings with other victims! 

Of course, the only logical thing to do was share to Facebook and then try to pin it to my blog board. The next obvious course of action was to look up blogs on Pinterest. This led to several other people's boards which was quite interesting but still not helping me figure out the design and layout facets of Blogger.

The downside to looking at other people's boards is you see all the things they have pinned and I noticed a vacuum cleaner. This reminded me that my Gen 4 Kirby has been acting up quite a bit lately. After 18 years and a couple of rebuilds not sure if I should keep this or post it to the yard sale site and move on. Like a good wife, I trot myself outside (it's not raining and Saturday so we all know that means Joe is working on mowing the yard) catch his attention and ask him what he thinks. Like a good husband he says, "whatever you want dear" and goes back to mowing. At this point the best course of action is to sit on the bench for awhile and enjoy the hummingbirds.

By the time I go back inside all thoughts of blogs and vacuums have disappeared and I then spend a few hours on those pesky day to day activities that we must engage in if we want a clean house, combed kitties, clean clothes, a balanced bank account and dinner.

My version of Sheperd's Pie (ground beef, creamed corn and mashed potatoes layered in a Rachael Ray purple casserole with plenty of salt, pepper and garlic powder) is one of Joe's favorite meals. We sit down to eat and somehow conversation rolls back around to the vacuum cleaner...

Off to Facebook I go and now the quest for information and opinions begins. The contender for now appears to be the Shark Navigator... 

Open to all suggestions, ideas and feedback! The must have items for the new vac are:

1. Lighter weight than Kirby was but still durable
2. Works on carpet, tile and wood
3. Attachment for blinds and window sills
4. Hose that gives short people ability to reach ceilings
5. Picks up cat hair but not cats
6. Not from Sears (long story)
7. Easy to empty with minimum dust
8. Only costs an arm, want to keep both legs

I Just Joined Smiley360

I Just Joined Smiley360
(click this link for more info)

Not exactly sure how this is going to pan out but taking a shot. Saw this on the Today Show and the gist is:

1. Sign up
2. Connect with all of your social media
3. Fill out surveys to get matched to missions
4. Accept missions
5. Try product (they send you for free), service or whatever
6. Talk about it on all of the social media

Supposedly, the freebies you get are well worth your while and for those of us who love to share our opinion we now have a legitimate way to do so!

Buckle and Pinterest

Entry #5

Today was hang out with my grandson day (which is my favorite thing to do).
His favorite things to do at Grandma's house are:

a) play 
b) eat
c) sleep
d) repeat

I would love to post pictures of him here but I know myself and it would take me hours to decide which of the hundreds I have I am willing to share. Suffice it to say that he is incredibly cute and very photogenic!

To make up for his lack of desire to sleep yesterday for his mother, he napped a bit longer than usual thus freeing up some time for me to try out a new recipe from Real Simple Magazine (my youngest daughter conned me into doing a buy one get one free subscription with her). This was my first time trying out a recipe from them and surprisingly it was quite easy to follow and understand, huge kudos to them for having a recipe that lived up to their name! 

The other bonus to this recipe was that it allowed me to use items from my Backyard Produce box (which my oldest daughter told me about and convinced me to try)! Top notch fruits and vegetables delivered right to your door, what's not to like about this service?

http://www.byproduce.com/

The recipe I chose to try was for something called:

Peach and Blueberry Buckle

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/peach-blueberry-buckle-00100000105376/index.html

I wasn't exactly sure what it would taste like but the ingredients sounded like something good would come of mixing them together! This is what it looked like when it came out of the oven:

It is important to mention here that based on the definition of the cooking term buckle that I pinned to my recipe board*, this was not a traditional buckle recipe.

*My oldest daughter showed me Pinterest the other day and so I have spent way too many hours trying to figure it out. I have created some boards, I think I am now following people (is it me or does that not sound creepy to say out loud) and am now able to pin things by using that little red dot at the bottom of the page! Have a feeling that my biggest problem is going to be remembering that I pinned something and if I do remember that I pinned it, figuring out which board I pinned it to!

Meanwhile, back in my kitchen we have finished dinner and moved on to the cutting and tasting of the cake only to find that the texture inside was not like cake, more like a fruit cobbler. This is what it looked like cut into:

Sadly, this recipe version was not a huge success! Taste is a bit sweeter than we normally enjoy but we both did love the toasted almonds on top. I'm thinking that tomorrow night we may need to try this warmed up with a scoop of ice cream on the side! I see another buckle recipe in our future  ;)

Breakfast for dinner

Entry #4

Spent the afternoon with my grandson while his mother ran some errands and didn't get home until around 6:30. We were rather hungry so decided that breakfast for dinner was the way to go, quick and easy (or so I thought). For those of you who haven't seen me in the kitchen, I don't do many one pot meals... So, I baking sheet for biscuits, 1 pan and lid for hash browns, 1 pan for sausage patties and eggs, several spoons, a couple of plates, a bowl, and some bamboo spatulas later we had sausage, egg & cheese biscuits for supper. This only took me about 40 minutes to make so about 7:30 we sat down to eat. At which point, I realized, damn I passed Bojangles on the way home...

Clean up time from all preparations of meal, dinner dishes, counters and stove top about 20 minutes, clean up time from Bojangles, crumple up wrappers and place in trash, wipe table, I'd say maybe 3 minutes!

Spirits?

Entry #3

Pretty sure we have a new member of the family! This is the only explanation for the shenanigans that have been going on in the house. I want to blame the kids for causing the disturbances, but can't due to the fact that their lazy behinds are sleeping on the sofa with us in the living room!

Isobel and Samson protecting us from any and all spirits...

What usually happens is there will be a loud sound from either the dining room or the kitchen and something will be knocked off a counter top, window ledge, dining room table, or desk. Now, in the past it was always one of the twins (usually Sam). To be fair, I'm sure he had a perfectly logical reason as to why the offending item needed to be moved, it just wasn't apparent to us. The other odd thing is the unexplained music that we hear, with limited neighbors and no ice cream trucks for miles there is no explanation as to where this music is coming from. How did I come to the conclusion that this was a new member of the family, or in other words, get to the point of the story!

Craig's list find, the new cabinet that started it all.

Everything started with the arrival of my newest Craig's list find. This gorgeous cabinet that I just had to have! Now, immediately upon unloading and placing it in the dining room it was given a thorough cleaning and polishing. Other than a few bits of dust and a couple of minor surface scratches above cabinet is intact. No sign of spiders or mice activity. Above mentioned felines however spend hours just staring at it with tense bodies and twitching tails. Now a certain grandson does spend time staring into the cabinet as well but I think he sees his reflection and is just saying hello to the baby in the mirror. The cats on the other hand are staring at the sides...

I will continue to monitor this situation but suffice it to say that in Judi's world this is a benevolent spirit that smelled my cooking and decided to stay for awhile!

Hummingbird Wars

Entry #2

Not sure why these little guys love our porch so much but watching them is addictive! They are so used to me being on the porch that they just ignore me and continue on battling each other for sipping rights!

I'll have to find a camera with a better lens so I can zoom in and really capture the sheer awesomeness of these little guys! 

Peak time today saw 9 birds battling it out between both feeders! I realize that I turned the phone sideways but wanted to try and catch the trio together.

Facebook

Entry #1

So, I've been hanging out on Facebook way too much lately and the one thing that I've found out about myself is that I'm not a very nice person. I laugh when I should be horrified and I don't allow myself to make very many comments as most of them would be inappropriate. I seem to have some deep rooted need to point out to others the flaws in their rationale as well as the hypocrisy of most of their statements. I also want to correct spelling, punctuation and grammar!

The first major issue that we need to confront is a very simple fact:

Just because you read it on Facebook (or anywhere else on the Internet) that doesn't mean its true!

Do us all a favor and before you click the share button, take a moment and verify the story. Look up a reputable website, type the information in and see if it checks out. This is also of benefit to yourself as many of these fraudulent posts that you click on now have your info to use for their nefarious ways. Wikipedia is not considered a reputable website...

Issue #2:

Do you really need to tell the entire Facebook community that you went to the bathroom, had diarrhea and/or vomiting, or started to ooze any type of bodily fluid? Love hearing about most aspects of your day to day life (tad bit of sarcasm here) but I'm quite sure that myself and your other friends would be just fine with "feeling a bit under the weather today". 

That is a great segue into Issue #3:

I am quite sure that "selfies" aren't going away any time soon but could we limit them and also not include ones with close ups of your body's imperfections. Enough said...

Lastly, Issue #4:

I love Facebook and especially keeping up with family and friends that I don't get to visit with on a regular basis. That being said, please spare me the ugly fights and dramas of your personal lives. Sadly but quite truthfully, they just don't belong on a social networking site. The second you type the words and hit enter, you can't take them back. Delete and edit are great tools but someone, somewhere still has them saved. Anger is a short lived emotion and most of the time, once we cool off, we realize that we may possibly have over reacted. I will champion many causes but will never enter into personal issues. If you need me because you want to vent and need someone to listen, pick up the phone and call me. We all have those days, just remember, use the land line cause the cell service is sketchy at the house!