Congratulations to our son Patrick for graduating today from college. We're so very proud of you ♥

Happy Holidays, everyone

Thought I'd share a picture of our Christmas tree.
Many of the ornaments have been made by me or the
kids over the years. Each one brings back sweet
memories. :-)

I hope you enjoy this.

And I also hope you have a safe, happy holiday -- whichever
you celebrate.

Since the flowers have mostly gone, the trees are
turning Autumn colors or losing their leaves,
I thought I'd share a little of our backyard
beauties from this Spring/Summer.

I'm honestly afraid to ride my bike.

Recently wrecked while riding, and fell on my left side,
spraining my shoulder.
Had to go to After Hours Care on Saturday. Doctor took
several x-rays to rule out any fracture of my shoulder,
arm and ribs -- all came out okay. But soft tissue
injuries hurt like heck, and can take longer to heal.
He put me on Medrol (cortisone) for the
inflammation, and Tramadol for pain.
I'm also using ice packs, and Capzaicin cream.
The Medrol made me so nauseous this morning,
in spite of taking it with food, that I had to stop
taking it. Even antacids didn't help.
But it has taken down some of the swelling
so it did do SOME good.
This is the third time in couple months that I've
wrecked on my bike, always falling on my left side!
I'm just so tired of being in pain, and limited
in what I can do.

I walk into the garage, see my bike, and don't feel
the same excitement I used to. Maybe I wasn't meant
to have one after all.

My husband felt so bad about the incidents with the previous bike, that
he took me shopping for a replacement. TA DA!! This one’s just the right
height for me: 24 inches. Rides like a dream; the
first night I rode for 45 minutes, I had so much fun. :-)

Yes, I did wreck the second day: was coming out of the alley,
thought I heard something metallic behind me -- like maybe something had
come loose. Pulled on the left handlebar, went for the curb
and lost control, falling flat on my chest and upper arms. I’d relaxed into
the fall, realizing that fighting it would only cause more pain and even a break.
Suffice to say that the next day I was soooo sore.
Only damage to the bike was a little rough patch on the edge of the right pedal.
DS checked it out and said it was fine, but cautioned me to slow down.
I’ve been riding it every day since, and yes I heeded his loving advice
and have slowed down: no more crashes or injuries.

This is a 24” Next “Tiara” girl’s mountain bike -- perfect height
once we adjusted the handlebar and seat heights.

I almost forgot: went to the bike shop down the street to look for accessories.
The one I couldn’t pass up was the red under-seat bag, that has reflective tape
on it, which I’ll keep bike tools,and a couple pre-wrapped snacks and glucose
tabs, etc. in (I’m diabetic).

Nothing on the radar, and I’ve gotten all the housework done. Guess what
I’ll be doing after lunch today! :-)

ETA: I ride for an hour every day now! :-)
(and sometimes twice, if the weather’s good)

More baking

Yesterday morning, I started bean soup in the crock pot
for the night's dinner. Thought corn bread for the others
sounded great, but found I didn't have enough cornmeal. So
I called my friend Keneil (we get our eggs from her farm)
to see if she had any. To my great pleasure she told me
yes, that it's meal she grinds from the corn she grows.
I loved the rougher texture, and the loaf came out incredible.
Everyone loved it.
We kept half, and gave her the other.

I also baked a loaf of white bread, for me (allergic to
corn). One of the bread machines has a Fast Loaf setting,
so that the bread is finished in one hour. Different
texture than the ones baked longer, but it's delicious.

One of the benefits of bread machines is that on
HOT days like we've had for over a month, it doesn't
heat up the kitchen.

Still smells great, though. :-)

Mmmmmmmmmm!

Don't you just love the aroma of bread baking?

Every Spring our village has a town-wide garage
sale: anyone who wants to have one, can.
We never do, just love going around to as many
as possible to find great deals.

Two of the great deals we found (well, actually
I did lol) were bread baking machines. One only
cost us $8, and the other $4 -- but I didn't find
out til we got home with it, that the $4 one
didn't have any instructions! I went online and
found them; DS gave them to me as part of my
Mother's Day gift from him.
It's nice having both, as they have different
ways to bake, and both have great recipes.
I use them at least twice a month now, when
I was doing so every day in the beginning!!

A little while ago this afternoon I baked a
loaf of egg bread.
A dear friend of mine raises her own chickens,
free range with no antibiotics or growth hormones.
The eggs we buy from her every week are the most
delicious, with yolks the color of deepest yellow
I can't describe. Consequently the egg bread is
amazing-looking.
I also currently have a loaf of (eggless) white
bread in the bread machine.
Oh, and I made egg salad for dinner with some
of the eggs (I'm having leftover pork roast
instead -- not a fan of egg salad).

Well, anyway, my house smells amazing, and
I can't wait to find another reason to bake
a loaf of bread again.
Knowing me it won't be long. :-)