Scattered Thoughts . . .

Sheila was in need of a few laughs and a distraction... actually, so was I... so, yesterday, we invited Frank, Christine and Sheila's parents over for dinner, a few drinks and a few laughs in the comfort of our own home. (I had already moved all the building supplies for a new living room and kitchen to a different section of the house to make things a bit more comfortable for Sheila so we were ready for a few guests as well.) We had a great time and are very thankful that everyone could squeeze us in at the last moment. Sheila and I were definitely entertained and had a great time!  That was much appreciated. Today, Sheila is digging through her medical insurance handbooks and we are discussing each thing she comes across that may apply to us. So, I'd say a little bit of the anxiety and tension is back again today... a little bit of reality, I suppose. Liza and the grandchildren will be stopping by to see Gee sometime this afternoon so that will allow us to push aside the

Sheila, talking with one of our newest train show fanatics... He went home with a new train set and a few other toys. Sheila and I had a great time at our annual train show extended weekend. It sounds as though everyone who joined us had a great time as well!  My spinal injuries were putting a painful crimp in our time at the show but, overall, we had a great time and are glad we ventured to the show regardless of my spinal injuries. I couldn't walk at all in the days before we left for the show so it was a bit iffy whether I would make it to the show at all. We still probably would have traveled down to see everyone but being able to walk around the show didn't look promising in the preceding days. After having problems getting around the show on my own this year... as well as some problems last year which weren't as bad as this year... and even some problems the year before that were milder (I see the pattern and it isn't a pretty pattern)... I have de

Dark Chocolate Bark... not quite done yet... it needs another layer of dark chocolate... We've begun our food prep for Christmas Day...  Sheila started with making some candy... a Dark Chocolate Bark with Candied Orange Peel, Pistachios and Dried Cranberries.  This is the first time Sheila has made this but I'm sure it will be good. That being said, we did encounter some minor issues so we'll make a few minor changes the next time we make it.   I par-boiled a bunch of potatoes for a big pan of Home Fries for tomorrow morning's breakfast... it will have the usual mix of green peppers, onion, bacon and some spices. This evening, I'll be preparing a Breakfast Egg Casserole. I've made this casserole the past few Christmases and I adapt it each year. This year, the bottom crust will be flavored French Toast bread... and the casserole will contain chunks of sausage, ham, green peppers, and cheese... an egg mixture poured over it... refrigerated overnight...

Every Christmas season, we meet with a few friends for an afternoon and a Christmas dinner at The Whip Bar & Grill. This is something Frank started doing a number of years ago and it has become a tradition that we all look forward to every Christmas. Our annual Christmas dinner at The Whip was yesterday and we had a great time! We arrive at the bar around lunchtime each year... have some lunch... some drinks... some appetizers... some drinks... then we move to a large table for dinner. Last night's dinner was delicious, as always.  I have more photos that I'll share sometime later but, for now, I'll share a photo here of Sheila and me at The Whip's bar... a photo of me is a rarity since I am usually the one holding the camera but Christine helped out by shooting a few photos of us at different times throughout the day.  Thanks for the photos, Christine... and thanks, Frank, for hosting this dinner every year!   Merry Christmas to all!

We had a really nice weekend and had an especially nice Sunday dinner with the grandchildren, Liza, and Sheila's parents, Will and Sue! Lukey arrived at the house with a golf club in hand which immediately reminded me of creating golf courses when I was a kid myself. We kept the course design simple on this day, however.  First, we dug one single hole, inserted a cup, and then we figured out where to place five different tee off areas... one straight-on... one off to the side... one which we called "down in the hole" which placed the tee off area lower than the green... one which was off to the side of "down in the hole" requiring chipping around tall brush and foliage... and one which required chipping over our firepit.  We took a little break for lunch... cheese quesadillas, tomato soup, apple sauce and berry jello for the kids... some leftover fried okra for me... and a cherry tomato medley salad for Gee... then back outside to play more go

The grandchildren were with us again on Sunday. It was a rainy and rather uneventful day but, as always, it was very nice.  I gave Lukey a haircut... some playing with dolls, dollhouses, trains, airplanes... some baked ziti for dinner, hot Italian sausage on the side, and some bread... and ice cream for dessert.  The fairly typical shot of Lukey and some of his trains... EDIT:  The photo of Lukey playing with his trains (above) was the first photo I shot this day. I quickly realized it was far too dark in the house on this dark, rainy day. My auto exposure chose a very high ISO of 12,800. Typically, anything beyond 1600 is avoided by photographers because things tend to get noisy, grainy and ugly beyond 1600. This shot above had doubled that limit three times and the photo still looks pretty good! Once I realized the house was this dark, I grabbed my little Nissin i40 hotshoe flash and mounted it on my camera... set it to TTL and a negative 1.5 exposure (so I only added a smal

For Mother's Day, we invited Sheila's parents to join us for dinner.  Later this afternoon, Will and Sue will come by for a few drinks and we have some planning to do with them for an upcoming journey to Dayton and the National Museum of the US Air Force.  This morning, I prepared our Mother's Day dinner... my mouth is watering already! We'll be having  shish-ka-bob on the grill... it is now marinating in the refrigerator... it should be delicious! Now if we could just get the rain to stop in time for me to fire up the grill and cook dinner, I'll be a little bit happier about cooking outdoors!   (Unfortunately, I have not found the time nor energy to finish building our outdoor kitchen area which will have a roof over it... other problems keep delaying this project.)

We have the kids here with us today... they chose to play with the old wooden trains today rather than the new electric trains... Later, the kids will be helping Gee make a cake and then they will be helping me make some meatballs and tomato sauce...  then they will help Gee make a garden salad (and probably eat half the cucumbers rather than put them in the salad)...  It should be a good dinner!

One of them was chanting "SAILING!" and then the other screamed "KAYAKING!" alternating back and forth between the two types of boating... My health is feeling a bit more stable this morning so now I'll get to writing about our Sunday with the grandchildren. I have a few photos to add here as well (nothing great... just snapshots only a relative would love) .  When the kids were here the previous weekend, we told them we would dig the life preservers out of the shed so they could try them on before we head to the lake house. They're excited about heading back to the lake and they know that these life preservers are required if they want to kayak, sail, be on the dock or be in the water so they were excited to hear it is this time of year again. If these life preservers are too small, we need to purchase the correct size soon so it was time to dig out them out of storage so the kids could do a quick fitting.  The funny thing is... Last year, Ke

Helping Gee make some brownies... I'm still feeling rather lousy but we had the kids, Liza and John over yesterday anyway. It was a nice change of pace and nice to socialize for a little bit. I've hardly wandered from the house over the past three weeks other than to pick up some food, pick up medications or see a doctor! The kids helped Gee make some brownies... Lukey helped me prepare our pork roast (and liked taste-testing my dry rub)... we made some blackberry mint tea... we watched some movies... I slept for an hour or so... and we had a nice dinner.  Today I head back to another medical appointment for imaging of my lungs. This appointment isn't a moment too soon since I had great difficulty breathing last night. In the past eight months or so, I've had consist difficulty breathing but last night was significantly worse. This sort of worsening health happens from time and time and can be expected but it will be nice to find out why... whether it is due to