Just need to talk to my friends (214)

Angel food cake with fruit is good. When I made cakes, I made a white cake with a box mix, using a cup of water in place of a cup of oil. It was denser, much like a pound cake, and lower calorie, and really good with fruit. Now I just mix fruit with cottage cheese.

Went to the urologist today for my annual exam to see if my cancer is coming back. No sign of it, so I'm clear for another year. It has been so long now, I would probably die of something else first if it did come back, so I don't worry anymore.

It's getting dark, think I'll find something for supper. Sleep tight!

Iris - HA! You win with the bear! 😄

I hope you start feeling better.

Beth - that is a gorgeous sunrise. I hope you start feeling better too!!

Lorita - I haven't gotten kicked out yet, but who knows, maybe it's just a matter of time.

Zetta - you and me both (about wanting to experience a sunrise like Beth's.) When I got up this morning at 7am, it was pitch black.

Carl - good news about your cancer scan!

Funny about angel food cake - I've never really decided whether I like it or not. I'm never sure how I feel about that spongy texture even though the taste is good.

Mostly I've been working away. I've got my production schedule for the blog - new posts go up on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and it looks like that schedule will hold. I've been posting updates on bluesky (kicking and screaming), but I'm getting it done.

It's also my year to fill my continuing legal education requirements, so I need to get 26 hours done by March 1. No problem, I will, it's just a matter of scheduling it all in.

My boot camp is going well - I can't complain. And that's all I've got - which maybe is a good thing?

Carl, great news on your cancer, paying it stays that way. I was treated with radiation and hormone therapy for my orostate cancer and was cancer free at the end of treatment. Years later the cancer became active again and I am now back on hormone treatment.

Yesterday was not a good DIL/GD day! Started with the chickens after letting them out of their chicken coop, running over to the cow pasture across the street. The owner had dropped off a feeder over there and they discovered it yesterday and I had a time getting them back home. DIL overslept and was behind on everything we had to do. Picked granddaughter up and she was crying because boyfriend broke up with her right before we got there, granddaughter would not eat or get a to go box and wanted to go back home instead of pedicure, after DIL and I finished at nail salon it was dark and trying to merge into traffic I hit the center medium and ruined left front tire. After AAA put my donut in I had to drive 40 miles back home at 50 mph.

I told Carl I was going to the senior Center today, but believe I’m just going to stay home and stay out of trouble. Don’t even ask what my blood pressure was and is after all this!

Today is another day, forget about previous days you can’t control. (This is what I always tell my family)

Ron

Ron, what an awful day! Go ahead and rest up, and we'll get together soon.

So, that gorgeous granddaughter is available? Wish I was 50 years younger!

Lorita I had no problem with it running over. I would have preferred loaf pans but it said to use 3 of them and I only had 2.

The flu has been bad here this year. My sister had a fever of 103 and is taking some people a while to get over it.

we got a couple inches of snow last night

Good afternoon all.

Great news Carl on your 'all clear.' One less thing to worry about.

Ron you need a re-do day for yesterday. Your poor granddaughter, her broken heart breaks yours.

Lorita I hope your taking it easy being dizzy and all. That's never a good thing.

Iris I hope you aren't coming down with a cold. Try to rest and feel better.

So much for only one appointment this week. DH woke up with an odd rash on one leg Tue. Instead of exposing us to every germ known to mankind at the PCP's office I just took him to the dermatologist's office. It's nothing really, super dry skin and he'd apparently rubbed his leg during the night making it red. I was concerned because it had tiny red bumps, she wasn't concerned about that at all. Then yesterday morning when I got up my right eye felt funny. I put eye drops, saline, etc and it just didn't feel right. Off I go to have that checked. My eye was so dry the bottom lid was adhering to my eye. He put several different ointments in and had me lay flat in the office 30 minutes. It felt so much better then. So I've got new eye drops and new eye jelly for night time. Its much better. He said in 6 months we 'might consider' a procedure to help with the severity of my dry eye. I didn't even ask about it!

I don't want to ramble too much here. Everyone be safe.

Lorita, that's a nice story of how you met Charles. You say he came back to Oklahoma, where was he from originally? Was he already a country guy? Was he already used to dealing with cattle?

Eaglemom, I have read that since homes can become dry in the winter, humidification may help people with dry eyes and also with dry skin.

It was warm again today, about 75 degrees.

Good night.

Iris

I made the butternut squash soup yesterday. So yummy! The most labor intensive part was peeling the squash.

Recipe: Cut and peel a large butternut squash. Saute 1 onion in butter.

To the squash - add 1/2 tsp marjoram, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper. Then add all this to the onion. (I didn't have marjoram so omitted it.)

Add broth/water, sufficient to cover the squash. I used a combination of my homemade chicken bone broth and purchased vegetable broth. Bring to boil. Boil until soft, approximately 20”.

Add 8 oz cream cheese. When it is dissolved, blend (immersion blender or blender).

Serve. This made enough for 8 servings. Next time I'd use a smaller squash and adjust the other ingredients accordingly.

Today I plan to make Almond Poppyseed bread. I made it once before but didn't read the recipe well, and put it into one loaf pan to bake. Well, it ran over terribly - the recipe was for 2 loaves!!!

Lorita, I wonder if the birds you saw were cedar waxwings? I stopped feeding the birds due to the prevalence of avian influenza in our area. Many waterfowl have died from it. Lorita, why did you put tvs down in the cellar? Could you not have left them out for garbage pickup?

JeriLynn, you are a caregiver. Always doing for others. How kind but can it get exhausting? I would think so. Don't forget to take care of yourself. I think your trips/camping probably help a lot. 😊

Zetta, I like Starbucks a lot. My favorite drinks there are Cinnamon dolcé latte and Brown Sugar Oat milk shaken espresso. Do you know about Red Cup Day? Every November, they have one day that you can get a free plastic Starbucks decorated cup when you buy one of their holiday drinks. I have 6 of them and use them every morning for my coffee that I make at home.

GG, how cool to see a bobcat! I have never seen one but they are around here and often seen on trail cams…mountain lions too. Glad you are doing your boot camp, your ABC nutrition and working on goals for the house, etc. Or maybe you just call them "things I need to do." I imagine most of us have that type of list, at least in our heads.

Iris, the bear article was interesting. Too bad he did so much damage under the house.

Mint, how was your angel food cake and your pot pie? Is your pot pie from scratch? Hope your sister is much better and that you stay healthy.

Also, regarding Frank Lloyd Wright, 1,141 homes were designed by him. The most famous includes Fallingwater at Mill Run, PA. Perhaps HB has been there?

There are about 400 of his buildings remaining and 2/3 are privately owned. Here are the Top 16 Frank Lloyd Wright houses you can tour. I loved this article and photos! https://www.incollect.com/articles/the-top-16-frank-lloyd-wright-houses-you-can-tour

Closing with a picture of Taliesin in Spring Green, WI - another Frank Lloyd Wright property that is open to the public. I want to visit there; it's not too far away.

Good morning

Enjoyed how you met Charles, Lorita. My sister is doing better. Took several days though.

Beth think I would like your squash soup.

Potpie - sometimes i use left over roast, sometimes i cook chicken and shred it. Sometimes I buy shredded rotisserie chicken. Need 4C of meat for 13x9. Spread that over bottom of greased pan. Top with 29oz of Vegall drained. Mix 22 oz can of some type of cream of chicken etc. soup with 2.5C of broth and bring to boil. Pour over meat. In large bowl whisk 1.5 C self rising flour, 6T melted butter, 1.5C milk, 1/2t pepper,1/2t garlic powder and 1/2t onion powder. Pour evenly over top of everything. Bake at 425 30 minutes or til crust browns. Same for veggies, can use frozen or fresh. You can make your own cream of soups, i have before but I am not as industrious as I use to be.sometimes I use my own brith sometimes I buy it. The topping is biscuit. My nephew and I both like it. This recipe came from You Tube channel Come Sit at my Table.

The angel food cake rose nicely and I enjoyed it.

Hope everyone is doing ok

Good morning. BBL

Iris

Got a check today to settle DW's class action suit for a data breach a couple of years ago. The lawyers got several million. I presume, and she got $20.04. So, now we know how our personal information is valued by our society.

Ron, I sure don't miss high school. Like your grandson, I was on the honor roll and on the dishonor roll at various times. One of the bullies I sent to the nurse later became principal of the school - we all grow up eventually.

You didn't miss much at the senior center today. The water heater quit, so there was no lunch served. One of the ladies at my table came on the OATS bus and couldn't go home to eat until the bus returned, so I took orders and made a Wendy's run.

We are predicting cold weather tonight, about 8 F. I think I'll make a pot of chili or spaghetti.

Keep safe. TTYL

how are the centers ruining the land??? Did your area fight against the build?

95 cows…what does Mike do with them?

Iris - I talked to "Team Peggy" member D today. She lives in L.A. and she said it was 80 degrees there today. She was bumming that she had to run the air conditioner. I told her it made it all the way up to 40 degrees where I am. We both agreed that 80 is better than 40, and that we'd both rather be in L.A. right now.

Beth - Butternut squash soup is just the best. Almond poppyseed cake sounds pretty tempting too.

Thanks for posting that link to the FLW houses - they're all so gorgeous, each in their own way.

HB - Nope, it's all a bust. No aurora tonight - not the cool kind, and not even the autocorrect kind. It was looking promising as late as this afternoon, and then — meh.

That's a lot of stuff going on with your mom….

Carl - you can never go wrong with spaghetti! Of course, I might be biased. 🙂

Lorita - Wow, Dolly Parton is 80 years old?? How is that even possible?

Judith - data centers are definitely an issue right now. One of the biggest problems with them is that they use a lot of water. I don't have an answer as to what to do.

Ron - Yay! You finally caught a well-deserved break.

Wow, all you fighters out there. I just sort of faded into the woodwork in high school - which was how I liked it.

I finished up my bootcamp! I'm really happy that I can still work out hard five days in a row. I still have something left! Today was biceps, triceps, abs, and — boxing and kickboxing — so we ended on a high note.

I'm trying to learn more about writing flashbacks for characters, so I'm in the midst of rereading Zone One. It's a post-zombie apocalypse book that takes place in Manhattan. The thing that makes it different is that it isn't a munch fest (there's a little munching going on, but not a lot), and it's written by a writer who won a Pulitzer and a MacArthur Fellowship. How often does that happen? Pretty much never. The author is Colson Whitehead - he's a good writer. I'm going to read some of his other more serious novels because I like his insights and seemingly effortless prose.