we're waiting

The packages are gone... the cookies have been eaten, but we are still enjoying the tree, the lights and the decorations. So... we are going to wait awhile before taking things down.  The weather "person" mentioned rain and cold next week but the first weekend in January is supposed to have highs in the low  50's..... good time to take the lights down, right?

My younger daughter, teacher with husband and kids, is always super busy to I arranged a trip to Starbucks for Chai Lattes and chocolate croissants and a chance to talk ... just the two of us.  Very enjoyable!!

Since my elder daughter's husband is on the road during the week, we have more chance to talk... in her home office while she has a cigarette and her Dad is keeping an eye on the 6 month old doggie disaster! BTW Harper has found a way to get out of her cage without opening the locked door.

New Year's Eve is just around the corner... hope you all enjoy the celebrations !!

When do you take the decorations down??

We all madeit  through our first Christmas without Robb. A few teary moments but for the most part we "made it"! 

The usual tree, lights and decorations are up... making sure the memory things are in sight. We have a few more holiday get togethers planned and of course New Year's Eve.... then we will pack things away till next year with the hope that 2019 will be a better year for us all...

When do you take things down??

playing around... found comments... and Merry Christmas

Just thought I'd tell everyone that I finally found my comments and have published them ( except for the spam ones - some were pretty crude).
Sometime last spring blogger must have made changes in its format... but I won't mot see them again!!

We all had a very nice Christmas. My daughters and their families came for brunch bringing most of the food!  My grand daughter had her first mimosa - light on the prosecco - with no negative results. After eating wonderful STUFF we exchanged presents.

And while the smokers lit up , we sat on the deck and talked!!

Hopefully your Christmas was a good as ours

Merry Christmas to all....

Rugelach ....

Bob and I watched a PBS show starring two sisters from the Boston area... they were the first of many rugelach makings this year and so we decided to give it a try.  The one we chose has walnuts and apricot jam.
The cream cheese based dough is currently chilling in the fridge.  We have to wait at least two hours.

Lili's ( our GD) is working this afternoon and her parents are unavailble to drive her home when she is done. So the rugelach will wait until we have taken her home!!

DH and I will be having a quiet yummy dinner tonight ... hopefully the rugelach baking will be successful.... a small boneless leg of lamb, baked ( or jacket) potatoes, applesauce, home made cranberry sauce, a veggie and a sample try of two rugelach for dessert and some of Aldi's mulled wine.
This means I could empty the freezer a bit and put in some of the Christmas goodies from a brother-in-law!

They're done... not as beautiful as on the TV show but very tasty ( we sampled two) I wasn't very good at dividing up the circles into 12 pieces but I will be better next time. Parchment paper is a godsend for not having any stick!!

I have had all sorts of cookies recommended to me since I posted on Facebook... Jewish cookies for Purem, Danish cookies and so on.  People will be sending me recipes and next year's bake-a-thon will include some new ones!!

goodies arrived

Our boxes going to my husband's siblings have arrived and some opened!! I am glad... a task enjoyed but do want things to get there on time! We live in the Kansas City area and they live in South Carolina, Upstate NY and Florida.

This after noon we are going to Harper Lee's ( my daughter's 7 month old part gigantic bloodhound puppy)  Christmas party. Have you even been to a dog's Christmas party... we haven't. The party is being held by the people who hold dog obedience classes ( Harper is taking them).  My daughter is looking forward to seeing how Harper does with their obstacle course... first time for Harper!

Afterwards my daughter and I are off to buy toys for her non-profit's Santa Tree. Now that our youngest family member is a 6 foot 12 year old we aren't buying toys anymore. So buying for Phoenix Family will be fun!!

Slowly but surely packages are getting wrapped and the door to my bedroom is closed in case someone drops in... The cats don't like that! They want to be free to roam wherever! Jack, they gray striped one, was locked up in the coat closet yesterday. No yowling or anything. Only Tigger the Tripper's reaching under the door told me!!

Our biggest cat surprise has been the fact that the cats have not climbed the tree, knocked anything off the mantle or chewed any lights!! Keeping my fingers crossed that this continues!!

Christmas goodies.

Since the Bright Star Bear Blitz show closed I have been working on Christmas goodies to mail off to my husband's siblings... I have made Scotch shortbread, cut out cookies, home made "Chex mix" and ginger cookies. My grandson made a large batch of chocolate chip cookies to add to my things.
This was his first time using parchment paper and the first batch of cookies slid off the cookies sheets into the bottom of the oven. We rescued them and made them ones to nibble! BTW... he's 12... and this will never happen to him again. My whole family loves that he loves to cook!

I will be baking more things  after the siblings' packages get mailed... I want to have several more types to put out when family drops by and on Christmas Day. My elder daughter loves Russian Teacakes or Mexican Wedding Bells - same cookie, different name - so will definitely be making those!

I've also made a batch of candied orange peel and a batch of dry sherry walnuts tomorrow ... I've found a recipe ( slightly different) for cream sherry nuts. Maybe I'll use pecans for these...

Christmas baking and candy making is always fun and I like making "stuff" especially for my brothers-in-law since they don't usually make things for themselves.

First Prize

My grand daughter Lili ( Lilith actually) won 1st place in her High School's Reflections contest for her story !!

Her Mother ( my daughter) sent me a cell phone picture.  Isn't Lili excited and delighted?? DH and the rest of the family are so proud of her!!

BTW she loves to play with dying her hair... she's actually a ginger/red head ! This time she used navy blue and it is fading!

Giving Tuesday

If one goes to Facebook one will see many many Giving Tuesday fundraisers !! My elder daughter is a director for a Kansas City non-profit ( Phoenix Family) and has set-up a fundraiser in her brother's name...

https://www.facebook.com/donate/991331654402004/2217048721653234/   

#BuildABridge is its name.

Robb believed in what Phoenix Family was doing and was always ready to help his sister in whatever he could do... from food from Quik Trip's kitchen to sponsoring Phoenix Family's events.

If you have been reading this blog, you know Robb was killed last February being a "good Samaritan"....  His passing left a big hole...


The fundraiser was a big success! The goal was exceeded ....Robb would have been pleased!! I will be watching to see how the money is used.

wreath and "blizzard"

Saturday my DH and DD abd I took a class at the local nursery on wreath making. I've always preferred real evergreens but unless I want to stand on the side of the town roads here and trim the city's trees, I can't get any to use. So class it was ...
I hung mine on the front door just hours before our well publicized blizzard hit. I guess the roads are awful and even the interstates have been closed. My daughter's and her kids schools are closed tomorrow and the lists of closings on the television are long.  But we are " stay at homes " when the weather is bad and we enjoyed a quiet afternoon watching the snow fall and listening to the wind. We ended up with about 5 inches of small flake snow...

The tv weatherman says we are going to have another storm next weekend... so mid-week I'll do a grocery store run for milk etc.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all ! 

Stole this from MacQue blog ...  I think my DH and I are all set for everyone to arrive this afternoon! I went to the grocery store for the "I forgots" and he blew all the leaves from the deck and put out the chair cushions. It is supposed to reach 60 F this afternoon and the smokers will enjoy being able to sit outside.
My daughters and their families decided to take the cooking burden off  my shoulders this year. All I had to do was pre-dinner cheese and crackers and veggies and the stuffing in the slow cooker . Thanksgiving dinner will be somewhat of a surprise!!  Feels strange...

The next question is whether to go with my DD and grand daughter Black Friday shopping which now starts here as early as  2pm today.  If I went to that store I'd miss the turkey dinner and all the visiting... so guess not!  But maybe much much later places??

Saturday my DH and DD and I are headed to a local nursery to make fresh evergreen wreaths. We are really looking forward to that!
Sunday DH and I are heading out to a train show/sale. My DH is a train collector.  Maybe I can sneak a purchase or two for his Christmas present??

Fun busy morning

My younger daughter arrived while I was still in my pj's wanting to go to JoAnn's ( fabric store) to buy fabric for a lovely loose top for herself and another for my granddaughter. I know I will become the teacher again... but we will have fun making them. She found a dark burgundy knit for herself and a darker emerald green for my grand daughter.
We went next door to Dollar Tree ( everything is $1.00 and I mean everything) where we bought "lovely" Christmas socks to put our "stitch and bitch" Christmas gift exchange things in... Some of the little things I am going to put in my socks are Christmas pencils and erasers, Christmas candy canes, chocolate and a handmade Christmas tree  ornament. I will then tie a filled pair of socks together with a bow... This the first time my group has done this... another member and I saw the idea on facebook.

On our way home we stopped at Starbucks for Chai Lattes... after chatting awhile, she had to leave. She is using her time off from teaching this week to edit a grad student's papers. She says the student's work is improving... my daughter makes sure she comments on where changes in content and grammar need to be made.

Then it was off for a haircut and a grocery shop... think there are still things I need for Thanksgiving. Even with a list...I miss some things!

new rug

Bob and I managed to empty out the master bedroom and its closets... putting everything wherever we could find space!!  LOL  But when we got up this morning it had snowed a bit and was still snow/raining. We were sure the installers couldn't cut the new rug and padding on the wet driveway and they would put things off!!
But no... they would be here at 8.15 ! And they were. Jack ( the gray/black/dtiped cat) has not shown a single whisker this morning. Tigger ( the orange tripper cat) would dash out the front door if I didn't close him up in our computer room. Tigger is fascinated by the noise and hurrah the installers are creating as they take up the old carpeting and bring the new stuff in !
( BTW the old carpeting is 40 plus years old)

Our installers brought their stuff in a small school bus!

To be cont'd...

Here's their little school bus and one laying the rug!! They did a nice job ... quick.... tidy... and professional!! And did it even with the lousy weather. We ended up with 2 - 3 inches of soft fluffy stuff.

Lili's artwork

My granddaughter is 16 and in her junior year of high school. These are two of her latest pieces. The upper one was done in white chalk on a black background.
She did them in her school art class. She brought them to my house so that I could take pictures of them for her portfolio. Next year she will be applying for college/art school.

I've been watching her draw ( or whatever)  forever and have seen a big step forward lately. It's interesting to watch her advance.

Surprise... it's snowing

I'm not ready for snow!! Currently we have just enough to look like the grass has dandruff!!. It was cold this morning when we went out to "sell books" to 1/2 Price Books. We didn't make much but the pile of 35 plus boxes has been dwindled down to just a few boxes of keepers! Hooray!
I think I may ask the DH to turn on the gas fire... for a little warmth plus I like the flames!!

The next online bear show starts tomorrow at 11 am Eastern... I enjoyed making Christmasy ones! We will spend the weekend watching for sales ( hopefully) and boxing them up for the mail. We will also be moving furniture and stuff so that the carpet layers can get to work early Monday morning. The carpet in the "Master" bedroom is the original carpet ( laid in 1976)... definitely replacement time.
I am looking forward to it...

btw ... we have been " discussing, loudly, where to put the bed, dressers etc. while the carpet layers are at work!! Not sure which of us won!

Robb's birthday

Yesterday would have been my son's 50th birthday. I had planned a family celebration with "Over the Hill" things  and whatever we could think of.
Obviously that wasn't happening.  But his sisters, his father and I did decide to mark the occasion with a trip to Harrah's casino in North Kansas City...Robb loved to play ! We ate dinner in the buffet and went to play the slots. Robb would have sneered a little at that since he was a Black Jack and poker player!!  But he must have been keeping an eye on his sisters! At almost at once they won ! Since they were playing together... they cashed out and split the loot!  And a sad day took on a nice glow!!


Today is Halloween... for many many childhood years Robb celebrated today with a party and friends going "trick or treat" with him.
We are headed out to my daughter's... she's cooking dinner for us and my DH will be handing out candy. I wonder what Harper , the new rambunctious puppy, will think of all this.  Is that why we have been invited so that the DH can cope with her?? Better him than me!

Harper was great... didn't pay much attention to the doorbell ringing or children saying "trick or treat"!   The Oak grove kids started out downtown hitting all the stores then off to the neighborhoods. We helped give out 5 large bags of candy !! Lots and lots of "thank yous"!

Large Frosty the Snowbear 2018

This is my lead bear for the Bright Star "Holiday Stars" online show November 9th - 12th.  I make Frosty the Snowbears each year. This is my 2018 large one. He is 14 inches tall.

Go to the sidebar on the right for a link to the show!!

It was not too cold, quite sunny and only a little breezy this morning so I decided a walk would be nice.... good for the leg too! So off I went. Lovely leaves lay in the gutters and several of the trees were showing off too.
The walk went well though I am a little exhausted...LOL !  Have to do it more often!

creeping closer and closer

We are creeping ever closer to closing on Robb's house. Signing takes place Friday. My husband has been doing all the little fix-up the buyers requested ... and some big ones like arranging for a new roof.  The Kansas City area had a huge amount of rain last week which made it obvious that the sump pump wasn't working. So my husband and son-in-law bought a new pump and replaced it. They found that the bottom of the sump was filled with dirt and leaves which had to be removed first before the new motor could be put in.  It took forever... including trips to Home Depot ( as always) for some little thing they just had to have!
One good thing... fixing the sump helped the new radon detector work better!!
My DH has a few more bits and pieces of Robb's to bring to our home and then we are done.

My daughters have been enjoying a trip away to Orlando. One had a convention/seminar to attend and the other went to keep the first company. They both needed the chance to get away! Last night they "dined" at Pio Pio ... a chain... but good and sort of Cuban in style.... enjoying rice, empanadas, fried pork skins, plantains etc. They said they ordered too much!! LOL

We stayed home (lol) enjoying their texts while I worked on bears etc. for the next online show ( November). Looking at what I have made you would think Christmas was coming !! I will add a photo of my lead bear shortly

what to do with chestnuts

A friend has a wonderful chestnut tree that has loads and loads of chestnuts every year. I like to roast them in the oven... cut a "X" so they don't explode and roast them.
My Mother used them in stuffing which I was not fond of... so have been looking for some other ways of using them.
Suggestions welcome!!!  I'm not sure the "comment" section works, so email me at bettina.groh@gmail.com with you ideas!!
Thank you

Harper Lee

Instead of spending yesterday sorting through more of my son's household items we ( my daughters and grandson) headed out to Ottawa, Kansas ( Prairie Pups Shelter) to see Harper Lee... a part bloodhound 5 month old puppy DDL had on reserve.
This has been a "lack of joy" year for all of us... and it looks like Harper will add some. After spending some time with her at the shelter DDL decided she was a good fit and paid the fee. We all settled in for the trip back ( about 1.5 hours). Harper did very well though she did whine a few times and let out a typical bloodhound bay!
I wish I had more pictures... she loves sitting on laps though she will soon outgrow that! Now she and Floyd ( DDL's 11 year old Australian Shepherd mix who has been missing his companion Chloe) have to get used to one another.
My husband and son-in-law who did not go to Ottawa with us did get a lot done at my son's while we were gone!!

BTW.. it will be interesting to see how big she ends up!!

An "oh no" Saturday planned

Robb's house is under contact, closing about Oct. 19th, so we have to clear things out.  We have scheduled a HUGE truck for my son-in-law to drive and planned what stuff (furniture mostly) goes where. .. our house or our daughters' houses.
My son-in-law is an over the road trucker so driving a 26 foot rental doesn't bother him in the slightest... now my DH , that's another story.

What's left, after this purge, will go to a non-profit for resident's needs. The non-profit has many sites and many clients... so hopefully Robb's things will find good homes!!

And that will be the end.... not sure if any of us is ready.

Another small milestone

I have been walking - caneless- in my neighborhood or walking at the Y ( we have a free membership through our healthcare plan) but yesterday I decided to try the stationary bike. I wanted to see how it felt to put the hip and leg through a "rotation".  Hip hip hooray... no problem. I did keep the time short.
  I did it after 9 laps around the Y's walking track .

Bright Star will be having another online show in November so I have started working!!!  Doing bears and friends for the Holiday season is always fun. I started rummaging through my plastic tote full of Christmas ribbon, floral items etc.

These two are from last year....

Off to new homes

Raggedy is off to Australia along with another one of my bear friends!! How great!! Several others are going to new homes and there are three show days left!!

The weather has done a turnover... we have had rain all day today and off and on yesterday. There are even flood warnings in the area. Our 90 degree days dropped to mid 60's today and when my daughters came over this evening they were both wearing sweaters!

Everything is growing again...wonder how long that will last. I think I will go to the Farmers' Market tomorrow morning. Homegrown veggies sound so appealing!! Maybe the Mennonite ladies will be there with their home baked pies and breads. And now that I am not using my cane ( often) walking will not be such a problem.

update and lead bear

Lili is doing well... back to school and a shopping trip with me for a homecoming dance dress...which we found!
Clearing out my son's house and the selling process is moving along. Not to say that there haven't been a few hiccups. Bob, the girls and I have taken some things.... some to use and some to remember Robb by. We have made many many trips to Goodwill , Disabled Vets and Habitat for Humanity's Restore and have two hugs days planned for the rest. One is a huge truck to go to a storage unit and one is a "Donation Day" for one of my daughter's non-profits. What's left, the girls will take to Goodwill or The Salvation Army!!
This has been both a lot of work and a lot of heartache.

I have been working on bears and friends for the upcoming online show ... link is on the sidebar ... coming up next weekend. Here is my lead bear Raggedy ( named by my grandson the moment he saw him!)

What a day

Well... this time it isn't about me!!!  We were woken up at 2 am Tuesday morning.... sure something absolutely awful had happened. Turned out our daughter was at our local hospital's ER with our grand daughter. Our DD was sure it wasn't serious ( GD is a bit of of hypochondriac) but this time Lili was right. Her really painful abdomen was appendicitis!  The doctors removed it at 7am. Three little incisions and she was back home by 3pm.  No school for three days ( high school junior).
Lili even has pictures.... the procedure is so different nowadays...

       After surgery.....

I have been working on items for the next online show... Bright Star's Fall Stars show.  
I received a surprise box of mohair fur in the mail!!  Made my day!! I have already used one piece for the show and have another in the planning stage from two pieces - blue and red!!

I have been searching for my needle felting supplies. My DH put things away while I was in the hospital so he could have them bring in a hospital bed ( this way way back) but his idea of where to put things definitely differs from mine. I have an order that cannot be made without these things...rats!!  Keep on searching!

Bingo tonight with my daughters... fundraiser for Phoenix Family!

Toward normality

After practicing a few times I finally took off in the car by myself to look for a new pair of shoes. Definitely not something the DH wants to participate in. I was successful with the shoes but missed seeing a bump driving home. Luckily I was in the mini SUV ( a higher car) so no damage.

One of the cats... probably Tigger ..upchucked on my comforter. It's too big for my washing machine. The laudromat wanted $10.00 for its big machine and the dry cleaner wanted over $24.00. So home we went and out onto the deck where we scrubbed and rinsed with the hose. Its drying now but it looks good. Dry catfood vomit can stain !

I am going around without the cane as much as possible. I take it along when we shop etc. just in case and where the ground is really rough or with lots of steps!! Feeling pretty good about this!!

Another online bear show in September.... so back to sewing!

Going well ... mostly

Life has its ups and downs.... we ( my daughters and husband and I ) have been readying my son's house for sale. I hope he would have liked the things his sisters did... staging and finishing up some of his projects. It has all been very emotional.
 Some of the things we found while de-cluttering the house were surprising.... all his Boy Scout badges, books and his Eagle letter!!  His high school awards. Some of the letters he received when away.   I hadn't thought he was so sentimental.  These things are all packed up and in our attic now... his sisters will have to decide what to do with them when Bob and I are gone.
I also saved some of the toys he hadn't wanted to pass on... Bob saved all his wood working projects.

So the house should go on the market Monday.

The Bright Star Summer Sizzler show is going well.... I saved the task of packing the sold bears ( and a mouse) for TODAY .... because we are having new carpet laid in the family room and I needed to have something to do that wasn't in that room!!   BTW... Chase is going to Pennsylvania.

We are still hot and dry... It doesn't seem like back to school time. My daughter goes back to her school district this week - pre-kids stuff. The grand children go back next week to their schools.

Chase

Even though I am still working on getting myself back to normal I have managed to make a few bears and a friend for the upcoming Bright Star "Summer Sizzler" online show next weekend ...
I have added a link.

This is Chase ... my lead bear!  An armful of super soft tipped synthetic with mohair inserts.

long ago friends

Last year I received an email from a grammar school friend... right out of the blue. Amazing what the internet can do. We've been emailing every so often and I really like hearing from her. One of the things I remembered best about her was how her Mother braided her hair! Funny what one remembers, isn't it.  Now she has connected me to two more classmates....  wonder where this is going?

Here we all are ... West Nyack 's grammar school... I think 4th grade.  1954???  So many years ago... but I remember so many names and faces!!

After I graduated from Syracuse University and married , my Mother and step father sold our house and moved to Nova Scotia. The house was demolished and the land became part of a large shopping mall.
So... never went back to West Nyack.

show went well

The Bright Star Furry Frenzy online show went well..... bears and fishies found new homes. Bob helped me get them packed up and off to the PO !
I am feeling much better.... the pneumonia seems to be gone ( hurrah) and the new surgery on the wound site seems to be healing ( knock on wood etc.) No signs of anything on the bandages.

Bob (DH) is still doing most of the inhouse tasks such as laundry, cooking, shopping etc. Though I am trying to take over some of them.

We had a nasty storm the other day ... thunderstorms, pouring rain with tornado warnings. The town sirens went off... which means a trip to the basement. I managed the trip down even though the last set of stairs doesn't have a railing. Bob plans to change that ASAP. A small tornado did touch down about 20 miles south.  Afterwards we saw trucks from the electrical company out fixing wires...glad our lines are below ground since the temps were in the 90"s. No electricity means no Air Conditioning!!

The weather person is talking even higher temps for the next few days... good time to stay home and work on bears!!

PS... changing menu ideas to avoid turning on the oven....

Hospital stay..... again.....

After getting all ready for the Furry Frenzy show I found I was really ill.... this time it was pneumonia. So back to the hospital where the doctors worked on that plus the wound opening from my femur surgery.
But I made it home again in time for the show opening tomorrow!!!!
Back to MY BED... my bathroom ( instead of a commode)  and a nice visit from my daughters and grand daughter!!!!

We are all so READY to get back to normal!!!

actually getting something done

Bob and I went to the plant stall outside of our grocery store and bought flower and two tomatoplants for my deckboxes and the planters out front. Nice to have some color and to move past last winter and spring. We made our jaunt just in time since they are closing for the season shortly.
We have had to "resettle" some of the plants... the squirrels are at it again.  Almost wish I could let Robb's cats out on the deck to chase them away... almost.

I have got my page done for the upcoming online bear show... including all the PayPal buttons. I'll post a link at the end of next week. Enjoyed the "computer work" but was amazed to find out how rusty I am....almost three months of just checking emails, fb, the blogs I follow ... no real work.

BTW... our deck not only has squirrels but so many mosquitoes that sitting outside and eating dinner means multiple welts!!!

Oh well, when it's 95 degrees outside who wants to sit there anyway!!

nudge here... nudge there.... doing an online show at the end of the month

I am working on getting ready for the Bright Star "Furry Frenzy" online show June 24 th and 25th!! The show's promoter has been sending me nudges to get me to do it!! She succeeded...

Actually it is nice to start working on bears or bear friends again!!

Impatient but not enthusiastic

I am getting more and more impatient with the healing process....Bob and I have decided to take a short walk around our circle this afternoon to build up my leg muscles. I found my un-used sneakers ( unused since I fell). Finding them myself can be easier than giving him instructions ..lol. I will take the walker which is all wheels and a seat ( if I need to rest) and head out when he returns .

The lack of enthusiasm is for starting any new bears or friends ... or anything really. Going to have to work on that!!




Bob and I just returned from my first walk with walker around my cul-de-sac.....time to strengthen my leg muscles!

My granddaughter wants help taking photos for a portfolio...think I can get up enthusiasm for that!! She has made great strides in her art classes this year!!   She's my favorite grand daughter even though she's the only ...!!!!LOL!!

I'm back sort of...

Just after my last posting Tigger ( Robb's orange striped cat) tripped me in the kitchen. Well... I had a choice.... either crush him or fall. I chose the latter. I fell with a huge bang and when DH came running  could not get up. Luckily the First Responders are only blocks away! They managed to get me onto a carrier, out to the EMT vehicle and off to the hospital.
I broke my femur ( thigh bone) into four pieces. The orthopedic surgeon inserted a titanium tube into the femur.
All this was complicated by by my afib and the thickness of my blood.
My insurance sent me to a rehab facility after the hospital stay where I received physical and occupational therapy..... now I am home. I still get physical therapy ( Scott is really good). The doctors say I am healing well

So with a rented hospital bed. toilet lifters, walkers and a transition chair we are coping. It would have been a lot easier if our house wasn't multi-floors.!

DH has been wonderful throughout.... constant visitor to the hospital and rehab  facility.... washed and brought clean clothes etc.  He has watched me progress and has been a great "go for" . For whatever I need or want!!

Today is my first time back at the computer!!!  Life must be getting much more normal!!

update on the cats...

Jack and Tigger have decided either of us available makes a good place to settle.  They even will sleep together on on lap which was unheard of before.
At night Jack sleeps under our bed and Tigger sleeps at our feet with occasional trips up to my head to tickle me with his whiskers and cold nose.
Now if only they would awaken at 7am instead of 6...!!  LOL

Grief Counselor's homework

Robb's employer arranged for us to see a grief counselor.  After our first visit she assigned a homework project..... Bob and I heard the assignment very differently but that's neither here nor there. I heard that I was to paint a ceramic plant pot with something that reminded me of our son. Then smash it and glue it back together.... the repaired pot is no longer perfect but it is whole. That is to reflect the hole in our life without our son and that we can put our life back together. Perfect...no... lots of cracks but "whole" in a sense.

Robb always wanted to have a beach house ... or lake house on the water..so that's what I chose.

My helper

Here's Tigger being my helper as I pin bear pieces together... LOL  His new favorite place while I am sitting in the recliner with my feet up....  Bob calls him our own "orange terror".

Jack and Tigger

Robb's two cats have moved into our house. They miss him almost as much as we do BUT they are settling in.
My two daughters were over last night so today is a little bit of a set back....

Tigger, the orange striped one, has adopted me.  Jack, the gray striped one, has adopted Bob.

going to be quiet

My blog is going to be quiet for awhile.... my son was killed while helping someone ....

my poor husband had to write the obituary...

http://meyersfuneralchapel.com/2018/02/11/robert-groh/

Days are currently a struggle.
Bettina

SNOW

Surprise surprise surprise..... looked out the window and it was snowing and blowing!!  We have about an inch ...so far! I guess we won't be going to our son's for dinner ( he lives about 45 minutes by car). Who knows what it will be like this evening.

So he's turning on his coffee machine and the X-Box .... we will do the same!!  And the gas fire!!


Yesterday's snow....we ended up with only an inch or so but by evening the temperature dropped to almost 0 F !

Sandra is the winner

Sandra send your snail mail info to bettina.groh@gmail.com    and off the Paddington stuff will go!!

Needle Felting... tomorrow is the last day for my giveaway

I have been doing a lot of needle felting lately.... as one can see by my hands having lots of little red spots from the needle!!

It seems that whenever I do one needle felted thing I have to do more.... lol !

Comment  if you want the Paddington things!!! Tomorrow is "the" day!

Decluttering and giveaway

One of Bob's plastic bookcases up in the storage area started to collapse due to the weight of his many transoceanic radios!!! The side columns started to bend and soon everything would have been on the floor.  I graciously (lol) offered on of my metal shelving units .... ha ha ha!. But that meant going through the boxes of stuff I had stacked on it... time to de-clutter.
  So today we packed up the car with two boxes of bookes plus a back area full of boxes and bags!!
Off to Goodwill , Restore for Humanity and our local used bookstore (Inklings)!!
  The bookstore owner gave me a few Paddington items left from her Paddington tea. My grandchildren are too old to be interested... but maybe someone else's are not!!
Just do a comment ( no anonymous please) and I will put the names in a hat and mail these things off to the winner.  Does February 1st sound good?

There is a poster, stickers, activity booklet and a coloring booklet with colored pencils

busy times

I drove to downtown Kansas City this morning for my every 7 weeks haircut. Mark and I get to play catch up on each other lives... He is a single urbanite adopted from the Philippines when he was a child. He was a stock broker but made this 90 degree shift into hair dressing. Love him!!
Today we talked about his recent cruise to Mexico, his Mother's leukemia and stroke and how his long time customers are getting OLDER . One of them he washes and cuts, does her make up etc twice a week in her home... sometimes she is " there", sometimes not.
I talked about my Mother and grand daughter and a fundraiser put on by my elder daughter's non-profit... The fundraiser was led by a  female impersonator which led to a discussion on "pronouns" .... when and what to use!!
My elder daughter has an appointment with Mark this afternoon .... will my ears buzz as they discuss me. Sometimes I wish I could be a fly on the wall and listen.... and other times I am glad I am not so I don't hear what they say!!

I have another online bear show coming up ... link on the right hand side. So I have been hard at work bear making, taking pictures and getting my website ready. I only need to add the PayPal buttons!

Ruby is my lead bear for the show ... Can one tell that Valentine's Day is coming up??

PS .... the weather has taken a nice shift to warmer!! They are talking about 60 degrees tomorrow. All the snow is gone just loads and loads of leaves from last fall.

Feeling lazy

After our day trip yesterday I am feeling lazy...still in my pj's at 11 am...... we went to Booneville to check out another old Singer and its table. The machine was not really what we wanted. The table was. As soon as I can I will post pictures...yes, we bought them!
Then it was off to Rocheporte which is where I-70 crosses the Missouri River mid-state... and where the Les Bourgeois winery is!  Tasted and bought 6 bottles... 10% off with purchase of 6!!
Then headed home with a stop in Grain Valley's Brass Armadillo... 15% off sale. Not lucky this time.

While feeling lazy I have been reading blogs and wondering how so many manage to be frugal food shopping. I see so many recipes online ( facebook...e-mails) and am tempted to try them... but that means buying the ingredients which are not always "frugal"....


Made myself feel guilty so I am now dressed etc..... 
  
 Here are pictures of the table... it's a Singer 74 ( if you really want to know).

Yes... it needs work.... the top and inside work surfaces really have had hard use. The table is really different from most of them. The opening for the machine is canted and the top opens on the same angle. It is supposed to make your sewing so much more efficient. We'll see.  The Singer inside is a 15-91 and will take work. I think I will put another machine, one I use regularly, in this one when DH has touched it up!!
 

Up and running again

Just after my last posting my computer went belly up. Luckily we had advance warnings and so downloaded my files to a secondary hard drive.... but that meant no time on the computer until DH decided on a new one and then set it up.
I am learning slowly all the new computer's ins and outs and DH has added all my files from the secondary hard drive ( sort of like a huge flash drive).

I did go back to the estate sale and same home with MORE little Steiffs...

The large rabbit is not mohair and quite new but it is so cute and soft I coulsn't resist. The baby elephant from my first trip is still my favorite!!