Scary Cemetery 2007

I walked over to this house about noon time today and they are getting ready for the evening...I would be too scared to walk up in this yard. There is something under a funeral tent in the yard that I could not see unless I walked up in the yard and I couldn't do it. I wish y'all were here so you could go over there at night with me.










Pumpkin Head at the front door!

Looks like Star Wars lives here for Halloween.


These statues in this yard get decorated for Halloween.

Halloween Front Doors

Emma is going to have a brother!

Here are a few front doors decorated for Halloween this year. Tomorrow I will be gettng pictures of the s-c-a-r-y c-e-m-e-t-e-r-y and posting them for my annual Halloween edition. It might not be up first thing in the day but check back.






The husband and I went for a walk last night and there were three police cars in the neighborhood. One of them stopped and asked us if we had seen a male walking around like he was going door to door...we had not. But I thought, boy, I'm glad I'm not alone walking this evening. I need to get some mace/pepper spray.

Baxterman is doing pretty good. He goes to the vet on Friday to get stitches out. I am wondering if they will do an x-ray then or wait awhile. I have not heard from the biospy yet.

blogging friends meet up day 3

Sunday was the last day of the meet up. We met for breakfast in the hotel dining room lobby area. And we spent about two hours or so talking. Then we went up to AM and Girlville's room and looked at books that were brought to be exchanged and watched Emma play and talked a little bit more. It was over too soon.

Tori was so sweet with Emma. Emma really took a liking to Tori. She would look for her if Tori walked away.

Emma entertained us at the breakfast with her Pooh toy. She would put it in her mouth and shake it...just like a pug!

Aunt Sue holding Emma for just a minute.

Then we met in the lobby again and said goodbye. The time seemed to go by so quickly. I wanted to say something else to Girlville and then realized she was gone!
I hope we all are able to get together again in the future. I have thought all weekend about what we were doing at this time last weekend and wishing we were still in Charlotte doing it all over again.

Here are Tori and Lisa as they were loading up in 30 Something's car with Magnolia Sun to go off to the airport to get back to New England!


Aunt Sue and I left Charlotte and drove over to Asheville, about two hours away. It was such a beautiful drive over there. The sky was so blue and the colors of the leaves on some of the trees were so pretty.

We went to the hotel and dropped our stuff off and then went straight to the Biltmore House to take a tour of the house. It was such a pretty day. More pictures of that to come later in the week.

We then went over to GOODBOY NORMAN FEATHERSTONE'S house to meet him and the MEAN ONE. The Woman greeted us at the door and Norman grabbed the gift I had for him and took off. It was still attached to the packaging. GOOD BOY NORMAN. Punchy was visiting with Norman, too, and she got to spend the night with Norman! I must say Norman's home is lovely and his yard is so pretty, too. The hydrangeas at his house are some I've never seen before...red and green. His garden is so nice, too. But the back screened-in deck is what I really want...Norman, can you send it down here?

Here is Norman trying to whip the squirrel into submission.

Here I am kissing Norman. I kissed him several times and I think THE MEAN ONE rolled his eyes about all the attention Norman was getting....I know the Mean One has got to understand all the women being in love with Norman. I think Norman was trying to get away from me! Norman showed me where his treats are held in captivity. I sure enjoyed meeting The Woman and The Mean One, who is not mean at all, and Goodboy Norman. I think Norman is more in love with Punchy than me...darn.


The weekend with all the blogging friends was so fun. I have to tell you I came close to not going because of issues that I have with anxiety. But I had so much fun and I think it really helped me a lot to go up there and meet everyone. I felt so much better this past week. I have to thank Aunt Sue for coming with me...I could not have done it without her. Even though she does not have a blog or even a computer, she fit right in. She enjoyed everyone as much as I did.

I want to give a big THANK YOU to ALFREDSMOM and GIRLVILLE for the planning that they took on for this. AM, the restaurants were great and the mall was fun and the hotel was perfect. Girlville, the cheese was wonderful and I'm sure the wine was too! The sparkling grape juice was so good, that I ended up getting a bottle of the Biltmore Winery and it's waiting for me in the refrigerator right now.

two in a cage

Sugar and Baxterman enjoy sitting in the cage as long as the door is not closed! The knuckle bone that the husband bought Baxterman to keep his mind of his problems, turned Sugar into a bit of a meanie! She took it out of the cage to her own little pallet and chewed on it and then grew tired of it. Baxterman came toward it and she growled. We don't see Sugar act like this hardly ever. She loves soft toys but not rawhides or chew bones. I guess this thing smelled so bad she decided she liked it. So Baxterman can only have it whenever he is locked in the cage and Sugar can't get to it. But as soon as you shut the door and he chews for a while, he discovers he can't get out and starts whining.

Otherwise, Baxterman is doing pretty good. He is moving around more and surprisingly faster but he tires quickly.

Blogger Meet Up Day 2

Day 2 of the blogging friends meet up started out at breakfast but I didn't get any pictures. Breakfast is not my favorite food ... except bacon and bread and grits and potatos...maybe I do like it more than I thought.

We all went to the mall. This mall was so big with some of the best anchor stores like Macy's and Nordstroms and Belks, Dillards and Neiman Marcus aka Needless Markup. I do enjoy looking at the merchandise in NM. The mall stores were great, too. I bought a bag of candy at the Lindt store. That is the SMOOTHEST chocolate. I'd like to have a mall like this closer to where we live but I imagine a mall like this is at least six hours away...Atlanta or Jacksonville.

Here is Tori holding her stash of merchandise. She was so funny...she spotted one of her favorite stores and took off running. It looked like the day after Christmas when everyone waits at the door to get in for the good sales. She had saved up her money from doing some work to buy some clothes!

I love the look of St. John clothes but I don't have any. Number one, they don't make them in my size; number two, they are so expensive. But they are so pretty. I don't have anywhere to wear something like this anyway. But I do love to look. I couldn't bring myself to go in there. They had string quartet playing in there and some refreshments...I should have gone in there just to eat those but the sales ladies would probably give me dirty looks.

Aunt Sue and Girlville and 30 Something and Norman's Woman and I ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I have always wanted to eat there but there is not one close to where I live. Here is Girlville and 30 Something enjoying lunch.

Yummy fried macaroni and cheese balls. These were good but the marinara sauce didn't add anything to it. I would ask them to leave that off.

These avocado egg rolls were good. Aunt Sue and I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day.

Here is EMMA! I have waited a long time to get my hands on this baby girl. Now that she is walking, she doesn't want to be held for long. What a pretty and happy girl she is! I never saw her cry or fuss. She is so content with whatever is right in front of her. She was talking on her parents' cell phone at dinner! The way she looks at her mama and daddy just melts my heart. She just is so happy.

Emma at the restaurant.

Emma walking around in the lobby of the hotel.

I got to ride in the front seat of the van to the restaurant so I was able to turn around to get a picture of the whole crew almost.

Here we have arrived at the restaurant.

This was a good restaurant...I'm so glad AM found this place for us.

This is what Norman's Woman ordered for dinner. It was a platter of different Greek dishes.

Somebody tell me what this is. I'm not sure whose food this is but it looks so good. Aunt Sue took the picture so that's why I don't know.

This is my dinner of moussaka. This is my favorite Greek dish and this is probably the best-tasting moussaka that I've had.

A few friends got this dish that evening.

This looks so good. Lisa, let me know what you thought of it. I love the charred look of the meat.

We got back to the hotel and did the same thing as the night before. Shanny (Shannon) from Bless Your Heart met us at the restaurant and came back to the hotel with us. She has some great stories and has a way of storytelling that is a gift. She made us all laugh so much. It was a really late night. ROLL TIDE Magnolia Sun!


Stay tuned for Day 3 maybe this weekend or maybe on Monday...who knows.

I'll have a picture up tomorrow or Sunday of Baxterman and Sugar. I took him back to the vet this morning because he has a horrible looking spot on his leg. The vet said it's bruising but he looks fine otherwise. He is so good. He loves his food so that's a good sign.

Blogger Meet Up Day 1

On Friday, Aunt Sue and I started out in the rain from home and drove up to Charlotte, NC. She drove the whole way except for a tiny bit that I drove starting out. It had rained and rained the night before and I was afraid there would be flooding on some of the roads and we might not be able to leave. I am so glad Aunt Sue would rather be driving. I fell asleep between Montgomery and Atlanta.

We stopped at Priester's Pecans in Ft. Deposit, Alabama, and then we stopped at a Chick-Fa-Lay outside of Atlanta. I think we stopped by a rest area too. It took us about nine or ten hours to get there.

This little navigation thing did a good job of getting us around on this trip. I had a hard time trusting it at first but it won me over.


Aunt Sue and I were the last to make it to the hotel that day. Everyone was up in AM and Girlville's room enjoying wine and cheese and sparkling grape juice, yummy. We knocked on the door and this is AM and she looks surprised or HAPPY to see us. I have waited SO LONG to meet her in person. She is just as lovely and nice in person as she is on her blog...so pretty and so petite. No wonder Emma, her daughter, is so little! It was hard to believe I was actually getting to talk to her in person.

Here are two people that I have been wanting to meet for so long, too. Lisa and Tori from Pug Posse. They traveled from New Hampshire to this meet up. I just wanted to stand there and stare at them because I couldn't believe they were right in front of me. I feel like I have known them for so long and finally I got to meet them. Lisa is such a giving and caring person. Tori is the sweetest teenager. Tori, I know Chichi would have loved seeing you in person. I enjoyed the time I spent with Lisa and Tori and I sure wish we could have visited longer. Tori knows how to program your electronics in case you older people need help!

Hey Lisa....finally we meet! I can't describe the feeling that I had when I walked into the room with all these bloggy friends! Everyone should get to do this.

Tori and I checking out the sparkling grape juice. It was so good. I love her smile!

Now, here we have GIRLVILLE on the left, then AM, then PUNCHY....oh my word...It was so good to meet you all. I want to go to Girlville's house for crafting and decorating lessons and good food. I think we could talk for hours. Punchy is so funny...she does not have a shy bone in her body! No wonder she stays busy all the time, she has so much energy and just makes you feel right at home and always smiling! Always smiling!

Here's 30 Something checking out the wine and cheese! I am so glad to meet her in person. And Magnolia Sun who is my bestest friend and we've known each other for 39 years (OH MY GOODNESS). Where did all that time go? I'm so glad Magnolia Sun decided to start a blog and became part of the circle of blogger friends.

Here we are in the van on the way to the Brixx pizza restaurant Friday evening...Magnolia Sun and Punchy and THE WOMAN...Goodboy Norman Featherstone's mom. I am so glad to meet THE WOMAN in person. Norman bosses her around, I just know it. She is too sweet and I'm sure he has her wrapped around his finger.

Here we are in the elevator in the hotel on the way downstairs....everybody look up!

Punchy and THE WOMAN at dinner.

Vegetable pizza..yummy.

Aunt Sue and I shared this pear, gorganzola, carmelized onion and walnut pizza. It was pretty good....wish I had some of it right now.

Girlville and 30 Something discussing something...maybe their sweet cats...or maybe a book or two??

When we got back to the hotel, we went to our rooms and then came back to the lobby to an area with chairs and a fireplace (that was not working) and we sat around and talked...mostly ghost stories if you had one to tell. There were some scary stories told. It is interesting to know (as an adult) that these experiences are really happening to people. I have to admit that one time I had to go up to the room at night by myself and get something and I was SCARED. I was so tired that I didn't even miss having my book to read that evening.


Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for Baxterman. He is SO PITIFUL. I put him in the cage last night and he whimpered. I put the cage in my room to go to sleep but I let him get up in the bed and he would not settle down. I then put him in the cage so he wouldn't have an accident trying to walk around on the bed. Then he CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED...after 30 minutes I got up and put him in the bed. He settled down finally. It was a long night but we did get some sleep. I think he has anxiety about being in the cage. Imagine that....my dog has anxiety about being trapped (just like me)!

Today he is mostly laying around but wants to get up and walk a bit and I let him somewhat because I think he needs to stretch his body some. He is eating and drinking fine. He is such a good boy.

Sugar is doing fine. She is such a puppy a lot of the time. She gives him an examination and she likes to get in the cage on her own.

Why does real Coke on vanilla ice cream taste so good?

Baxterman is home and on restriction

Poor Baxterman is home and on restriction. We got to borrow a cage from the vet to make him stay put and not follow us around. I take him out for potty and to eat and drink. His daddy got him a knuckle bone to chew and he is so happy with that. I think in about three days he will be able to walk around a bit.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers for him and us. I don't know what to expect next week from the biopsy report but we'll deal with that when it gets here.

Tomorrow I am putting up my bloggy meetup day 1 and maybe day 2! I sure had a good time.

WONDERFUL WEEKEND and sad homecoming

I don't even know where to begin to tell what a wonderful time I had meeting some of my blogging friends. Punchy and Alfredsmom and her husband Jason and daughter EMMA and Norman's Woman and Lisa and her daughter Tori and 30 Something and Girlville and Magnolia Sun and Shanny (who made me laugh so hard I thought I was going to have to get up and leave the room). I never could have imagine how much fun it would be to get together. I only wish we had more time to visit with each other. I think we needed another day or so. You all are so much fun and so nice and I want to see you all again! I'll post pictures in the next few days.

Aunt Sue and left Charlotte, NC., after the meet up and drove to Asheville, NC. and went to the Biltmore House and then over to meet GOODBOY NORMAN FEATHERSTONE. He is such a character. He gave us the tour of his lovely home. I would love to have a kitchen/living area and back screened porch and deck like he has. He is the KING! I took him a gift just to make sure I can stay on his good side even though he did not want me to kiss him. You'll see a picture of that when I do my recap of the weekend. He is so slim and trim...but he is a one woman man! He love his Woman and I can understand why. She is the sweet and beautiful and she loves him. His dad Ian is the best, too. He is so NICE and is a great host. He and Woman offered all their food and drinks and cookies...and we took the cookies with us and they were so very good. Thank you Ian and Woman and Norman for a fun visit!

Aunt Sue and I left Ashveille this morning (Tuesday at 6:30 a.m.) When we got to Atlanta, my phone rang and it was my husband. He said he had bad news. I couldn't even ask what ... I just sat there. He said that Baxter had been biting his leg really bad overnight so he took him to the vet this morning and when he took him in, Baxter went towards a cat in the waiting room and all the sudden his leg went out and he yelled. His femur bone broke in two.

Let me give you a little history about the past two weeks. Baxterman is itchy in the summer/hot weather so I had taken him in to get checked for that. The vet gave him some prednisone and some shampoo and a bath and I brought him home and gave him the medicine as indicated. He seemed to respond somewhat but then started acting like he was in pain with his front foot. So I took him back in and the doctor said to stop the prednisone and he gave him a shot of rimadyl (spelling??) and Baxter seemed better over that weekend. Then on Tuesday I took him back in because he seemed to be hurting again with his legs or back. So the doctor looked him over but didn't feel any swelling or broken bones so he gave him deramax (spelling??) as an anti-inflammatory. We had been giving him those for several days. He seemed semi okay before I left for the meetup.

So I get that phone call this morning and it was 6 more hours until we get home and I took Aunt Sue home and I went straight to the vet and got to visit with Baxter for an hour and a half. He was waking up from his operation. They placed a pin in his femur to help it heal again but at his age they will not be able to take the pin out ever. They said that break was so bad it was like being hit really hard or even by a car...but that has not happened. So the doctor said it is possible that he might have bone cancer so they biopsied it while they were doing the operation and we'll know something next week. He said cancer in the bone like that can weaken the bones and it could have caused this to happen (maybe along with Baxter jumping off of something onto the tile floor?) I don't know. We have ramps and stairs on the couch and bed so I just don't know how he could get such a break.

I am just praying he is going to be okay. I know you all will be too. He is my boy and follows me everywhere and spends all his time where I am. I miss him tonight. I hope I get to bring him home tomorrow and I will be having to pick him up and take him wherever I go so that he does not try to get up. I have to pick him up and put him in the grass so he can go peepee. I will do whatever I can to make sure he gets better. If it is cancer, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. The vet said the oncologist will give recommendations if it is. He could even end up losing his leg. We'll see. Just keep him in your thoughts.

I have a lot of work waiting on me too, which is a good thing. I have to get started on that ... but I will do a day by day picture of the bloggy meetup. I still can't believe I got to see you all! I wish we were still there!

Front Door Friday: Halloween

*** THANK YOU friends for checking on us today/yesterday because of the bad storms here. It was scary but so far we're okay. It's not common to have tornadoes here so we don't have sirens to warn us.

This is a great job on decorating this front door area. I wish I could have gotten a better picture of the figure standing there. Looks pretty spooky to me.


Baxterman is going to miss his mama this weekend and she is going to miss him. He's my little shadow that follows me around all day and night. I'm going to meet some of the wonderful blogger friends. Pictures to share next week. There will be a few pugs, cats, doggies of all types missing their mamas this weekend.

Little Sugar is going to miss me too. Their daddy will be here to take care of them but it's just not the same as mama being here.

bad weather

The news says we have gotten 9 inches of rain in our city this morning. It has calmed down for the moment but it was scary earlier. There was a tornado over in P'cola and reports of one coming on shore about 20 miles east of us. And also reports that one was out at the beach this morning. We hardly ever get tornadoes unless they come with the hurricanes.

I got Sugar and Baxterman and a sheet and we sat in the closet for a little bit. Sugar was so excited she could not calm down. Baxterman got up under the clothes that were hanging and laid down. Good boy. I had to leave the closet one time and they escaped and I had to carry them back in there.

The pool is going to overflow if we get much more rain. I hope the husband can get home and do what has to be done to get the water out. I don't know how. I'm sure it must be pretty easy so I guess I better learn so I can take care of that problem next time he can't be here.

over the past weekend

I bought a new roaster oven from QVC recently. This weekend, I decided to try it out. Aunt Sue and I went to a grocery store in P'Cola that has a good meat department. I asked about a prime rib roast. I wasn't sure what size I wanted to get so I figured four ribs (in size) would be good. Well, it weight eight and a half pounds...at 12.99 a pound...go figure. Merry Christmas everybody! We won't be seeing another prime rib around here the rest of the year. But it was good.

Here is the prime rib roast after it was ready.

Here is the new roaster oven. It was a Today's Special Value on QVC so I got a deal on it. (I guess)

In 2004 and 2005, the hurricanes came through and the moss about disappeared from the trees. Now that we've not had a bad storm in a couple of years (thank goodness) the moss is back in the trees.

Saturday, Aunt Sue and I wanted something for lunch but didn't know what we wanted so we went to the beach to a market/grocery and they cook BBQ on a grill outside. So we got BBQ sandwiches. They were pretty good. I think we'll go back there.

Here are some scenes from the market/grocery. There's a marina behind it and it was so pretty outside.

Can you see the bananas on the tree?

More pictures from the grocery at the marina.

scary cemetery is starting to come alive

Yesterday I went by the scary cemetery and it is starting to come alive. A lot of moving parts and noises going on. I cannot go by there at night.

Four big dogs moved into the neighborhood.

The white English bulldog was the boss.

October Centerpiece

This is the centerpiece on the dining room table about two weeks ago. It was so nice to have apples from New Hampshire, courtesy of Lisa and family. I hope the weather will start to stay cooler now so that we will feel a little fall season around here.

Sandi over at the Whistlestop Cafe is hosting the Centerpiece of the month for October. I thought I'd post one this month and hopefully I'll be able to post more in the future. She will post all centerpieces for October on her blog in November. Check it out and/or participate if you'd like. Here is how to do it.

No doors today!

I failed at getting a Front Door Friday picture for this week, but I did get this picture of this pretty house over in Aunt Sue's neighborhood a few weeks ago and never showed it until today. Too bad we can't see the front door. This house is new but there was a house here before Hurricane Ivan hit in 2004 and flooded the whole neighborhood. So many houses had to be remodeled or torn down and built anew. Aunt Sue's street is the first street in the neighborhood and does not back up to a canal so she did not get flooded...thank goodness.

I will be getting a front door picture at some point for all the Halloween decorations going up.

I am WORKING all weekend...I'm thankful to have work so I'm not complaining...but I'm off next weekend so YEA!!!

deep fried avocado anyone?? HELLO!

The oleanders are still blooming in the yard.

Baxterman has been itching so much so he started taking some steroids. I took him back to the vet yesterday and the vet said to bathe him twice a week and start giving him Benearyl and try to ease off the steroids. He gain one pound in one month..that's a lot for him. I hope when the weather cools off the itchiness will stop.

Aunt Sue baby-sits some cats for a lady that lives in her neighborhood when she goes out of town. Aunt Sue does not want anyone to pay her for taking care of their animals but this lady always gives her something! She has started giving Aunt Sue gift cards to restaurants. So the other day, Aunt Sue took me to lunch at a restaurant right down the street here. This was a DEEP FRIED AVOCADO with crawfish and Bienville sauce on some toast! HELLO...let me tell you, it was so good I can't quit thinking about it. I never thought of frying an avocado. Boy, was it ever good. I never cared much for this little restaurant but the menu has changed a little bit (maybe the owners changed, too?) but this will make me go back.

One of my favorite things

I just wanted to answer some questions from yesterday's comments about the alligator skewers. No way am I gonna eat any alligator. I don't want to eat something that could have possibly eaten a human at some point...like a shark or an alligator. I'm sure there are other things that I eat that could possible have eaten something gross...like crabs. I love crab meat.

Norman's mom, I think you are thinking about the Gulf Shores Seafood festival. It is so huge...I don't know how they pack that many people in such a small space. Priscilla, you were brave to taste when you were over this way! Leslie, I have never eat catfish...it has whiskers and seems kind of weird to me?? But my parents really like it and cook it at home. Pam, I think the bead lady will do more shows. She didn't do any all summer from what I could tell on her web site. These girls do great lampwork beads, too. They make beautiful mermaids and seashells and other kitty cats. I have seen them at several shows lately. Page, we only went to Fresh Market, but one of these days I'm going to get to some of the stores over there that I never get around to. I'd really like a rent a place on 30-A and just spend a couple of days shopping and eating!

Now, here is something that I love to collect...plates. I have a growing collection of dinner plates, dessert plates for the different seasons. I have a thing for plates and tablecloths. I would love to remodel the kitchen some day and have a special place for my collection to make it easy to get to them.

I saw this new series of dishes in Dillard's the other day. They are so pretty. I just looked and looked and looked at them. But it's not in the budget this year so I just took pictures so I could continue to look at them! Plus, I have no where to store them at the moment. I've run out of room around here until I can get the kitchen remodeled or get another piece of furniture that can store something.






I love, love, love, this set.

destin seafood

On Saturday, Aunt Sue and I drove over to Destin to attend the seafood festival. We could not believe how small it was and not very many vendors. I think the food was probably good for the most part...even though we decided not to eat there.

The lady that had the glass beads I wanted to see only had a tiny selection to choose from. I didn't get a picture of them. I was so disappointed that she did not have more to choose from. I am going to watch and see where she will be showing her work again.

These are a few of the seafood booths. It smelled so good around there.

Would anyone like an alligator skewer?

These beachy signs are so colorful.

More beachy signs.

Never fear that Aunt Sue and I missed out on an opportunity to eat! This is my fried crab claw basket at Dewey Destin restaurant. We ate there about a month ago and did not get a good meal so we tried it again and this was really good!

This is fried shrimp that Aunt Sue got. I traded her a hush puppy for a shrimp.

Looking at the crowd trying to get inside to order. It's so small inside where you order and get your drinks. Then you sit outside on the dock or covered patio. It was really crowded.

This character was fishing.

These little guys were on good behavior.

Another fisherman...you can see another one like him in the distance along the shoreline.

Front Door Friday

Finally a front door Friday picture!

This is a picture of my mama and daddy's front door. They made these decorations and the wreath! Good job!



I better get busy and get more pictures of front doors while the Halloween decorations are going up around the neighborhood. I saw the scary cemetery fence is up and there's already something scary coming up out of the ground. I've never seen the cemetery appear this early in October.


Destin, Florida is having their seafood festival this weekend and Aunt Sue and I plan on going. Should be plenty hot outside. It doesn't feel like October to me. I see temps in the 90s for next week. There is a lady that makes glass beads that is going to be there and I've never seen her work in person and I'm looking forward to seeing it in person. She makes pretty seashell glass beads.

I recently finished this book, Octopus Alibi. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the rest of the books in the series by this author.

decorations

I've been slowly collecting some woodland-type decoration for a Christmas tree. Probably need to collect a couple of years before I get the tree.

Here are two that I bought yesterday at Michael's.




I forgot to put this recipe up for the stuffed pork loin. Here it is:

APPLE PECAN-STUFFED PORK LOIN WITH APPLE CIDER GLAZE
Makes 6 to 8 servings

4 slices applewood smoked bacon
1 ½ cups chopped Gala apples
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4/ cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
1 cup crumbled cornbread
½ cup toasted chopped pecans
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 (4 pound boneless pork loin, trimmed)
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 recipe Apple Cider Glaze (recipe follows)

In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat for 6 to 7 minutes, until crisp. Remove from pan and crumble, reserving drippings in pan. Add apple, celery, onion, garlic, sugar, ½ teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, until tender; remove from heat. Add cornbread, pecans, thyme, chicken broth, and crumbled bacon, stirring to combine well.

Preheat oven to 475

Place pork loin on a clean surface and cut into one side of meat leaving a ½ inch border. Continue cutting the loin until the loin is able to be rolled out into a rectangle and is about ½ inch thick. Place a piece of heavy duty plastic wrap on top of pork. Using a meat mallet, pound the meat until it reaches an even thickness of about ½ inch.

Spread cornbread stuffing evenly on prepared pork loin, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll up lengthwise, jelly-roll style. Secure with butcher’s twine. Rub outside of stuffed pork loin with a 2 tablespoon olive oil, and remaining salt and pepper. Place, seam side down, in a roasting pan. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees.

Pour apple cider glaze over pork loin, loosely cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 30 to 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer reaches 150 basting periodically. Let rest for 10 minutes. Spoon apple cider glaze over pork loin.





APPLE CIDER GLAZE

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 table spoons chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup apple cider
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
½ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

In medium saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil and butter until butter is melted. Add thyme and garlic; cook 1 to 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

long long wait and excellent hearing: What did you say?

This is inside the Sacred Heart Hospital. It's just a bit scary looking to me.

This is the courtyard area at the hospital.


My ears have been ringing for a while now and my head has been hurting more often and there is a cracking/popping noise/sensation when I move my jaw and especially when my head hurts. So I went to an ENT today. My appointment was at 2:00. I got there 10 minutes early to do the paperwork. A lady called me back about 2:20 for a hearing test and I was sent back to the waiting room. The lady said the doctor was running behind and I could go anywhere and come back in an hour. So I did. I was back at 3:30 and guess what time I finally got in to see the doctor???? YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT????

6:15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess what time I walked out of the doctor's office???? 7:00!!!!!

Guess how many patients were still there to see him at that time???? TWO!!!

All I can say is that thank goodness I don't have to go back to him. My hearing is EXCELLENT! He suggested that I do my transcription work using speakers on the desktop instead of listening to earphones all the time. I do not have any fluid in my ear that I had back in August when I went to the doctor then. My jaw is slipping out of alignment and I need to see the dentist about that and have a split made (??) and see if that will help the popping/cracking. The headaches are probably from being in one position doing the transcription and my neck tensing. I notice this happens when I'm driving for a long period of time too.

I'm guessing when I'm suffering the allergy/sinus stuff that my hearing gets worse but that's not causing the high pitch ringing that is there constantly. So if I see you in person and I say I can't hear you...remember, I have excellent hearing but truly for some reason I can't hear you!!! Just yell at me!

I have to tell you that a woman that came in shortly after I did was a Mary Kay saleslady. I just want to say I'm glad that people want to sale Mary Kay but honestly do they have to use the doctor's waiting room as a place to look for potential customers? She had on her pin that said her name and Mary Kay on it. And she was really friendly...spoke to anyone who walked through the door. I went back for my ear test a few minutes after she came in and when I came out of that I left to go look around the hospital for awhile. When I came back she was chatting with another woman and a man in there waiting room and calling people on her cell phone and chatting. Then when the lady and the man had all been called back and it was just me...she moved over to a seat next to me!!! She just was chatting away and then handed me her card. She told me that she loved to play make up and I could call her and she could give me a makeover! I told her that my mama's neighbor sold Mary Kay and that if I needed some I'd get it from her. Then we chatted about something else. Then she said, are you using the skin care product? I told her no, that I was happy with the products that I use. She tried to tell me that she could see a big difference in herself and others that use the MK skin care products. I just looked at her. What do you say to that after you tell her that you like what you already use?? Honestly, this is what ticks me off with those sales people. Push, Push, Push. I swear I could hear her go tsk, tsk (my hearing is excellent). GO AWAY MK.

purses and food: what else?

I have been searching everywhere for a new purse. Searching for a couple of months. My purse of choice is Coach and as much as I look at other purses, nothing catches my eye. But nothing at Coach has really been calling my name either. This one I considered buying but the price is steep for a purse that is not REALLY calling my name. This one I just saw in the catalog that came in the mail but for the price, it better have a handle attached to a six-foot long alligator that weighs 120 pounds. So Coach really isn't in the budget this year so maybe better luck next year. I did actually buy this purse from Macy's but when it got here it was really BIG and not very attractive, so I sent it back. So I opened the closet and was looking to get an older purse out since I needed to retire my summer purse...and I saw the purse I bought this time last year and it looked just right. So that's what I'm carrying now. It's just a bit hard to see what's in it so we'll see how long I can stand using it. I do better with tote bags that I can really see into instead of this more duffle-type bag.

Here is my fall purse.


I made Girlville's version of the macaroni and cheese and it was so good. Husband liked it, too. No eggs in it made a big difference. I halved the recipe and it made just enough for some leftovers for lunch.