French Braid

Can you see it on my cutting table? I can't imagine why not! Just because several other things are piled and stacked along with it...

I cut the pieces out before Mama had her surgery...3 1/2 weeks later all I've accomplished on it is sewing the 'butterscotch' color squares to one end of half the rectangles. Well...actually behind me is part of one section sewn together and actually pressed. I did that today.

Looks as if I need to clean my table. LOL I need to clean the whole room! Change that to the whole house! We have company coming from Ft. Worth for the weekend. Sam's BFF since the fifth grade and his wife.

Introducing...

Ducky aka The Rubber Duck (blog). He's mine. Jonathan said that he created his own blog so that he could comment on mine.

He called me today about using the "O" word in my last post. LOL

I just read his latest post. I had a good laugh! He did post a photo of himself in his kilt and leine aka shirt. I made the shirt for him before an international festival in Houston last year...Ireland was the featured country. (He was disappointed in the festival...but got to wear his kilt and leine.)

Chocolate Anyone?

I woke this morning before the heater cut on (see below post about thermostat war). The inside temp was 70 degrees. Not cold at all...but still 2 degrees shy of the heater kicking in. So. I had a mug of hot chocolate. If I hadn't been dressed in my summer pajamas without a robe, I would've gone outside where it was a crisp 54 degrees and sat in the screen room to enjoy it. Alas. The heater kicked in...Note to self...set out robe for tomorrow morning.

To continue in the chocolate mood, I decided to bake a Chocolate Pudding Cake.

This is such a good cake. Without eggs in the batter, I even licked the whisk, bowl, and spatula. ;o) This looks weird with water floating on the top.

During the baking, that water sinks taking with it the brown and white sugars and cocoa sprinkled on top...

...making a pudding layer on the bottom.

After it cools, scoop out a slice and flip it upside down on the dessert plate with the pudding on top. A bit of a drizzle of chocolate syrup (since I was watching Julia and Jacques on PBS).

About as good as an orgasm. OH! Where'd he come from? Gotta turn the ceiling fan on again!! (I admit it. I did not take this photo.)

How to make your own...

Chocolate Pudding Cake (If Sean ever comes to visit...I am NOT sharing him!!)

1 1/4 cup sugar, divided (3/4 cup and 1/2 cup)
1 cup flour
7 tablespoons cocoa, divided (3 tablespoons and 4 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 1/4 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Blend in milk, butter, and vanilla; beat until smooth with a wire whisk...it doesn't take long. Pour into an ungreased 8- or 9-inch square baking dish. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, and remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa; sprinkled mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top; do not stir.

Bake at 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Let stand 15 minutes. Spoon into dessert dishes, spooning sauce from bottom over top.

Garnish with whipped cream or sprinkle with powdered sugar...then do the Julia thing with the chocolate syrup if so desired. ;o)

Makes 8 to 10 servings. hahahahaha Unless one is a chocoholic. Me!

Go To Your Corner...

Thermostat War has begun already!

Fooled Me

Sigh. I was doing the 'man' thing tonight and flipping channels with the remote. Nova aired a program about Rift Valley in Kenya. The first 10 minutes talked about the lake that was there millions of years ago...and that most of Africa was once a tropical rain forest. Many areas are now desert. (Guess man started global warming much further back than we originally thought.)

So...I called Sam into the living room. BM...that is Before Me...he, the then wife, and their two kids went to Zaire as missionaries for the Methodist church. Just before leaving Belgium where the two kids pretty well learned how to speak French and the now X did fair...Sam...wellll....we won't go there because it has no bearing on my story any way. Okay...just before leaving Belgium, they find out that the school in Lubumbashi, Zaire (now the Democratic -haha - Republic of Congo) does not have enough grades for their oldest, Brook. She was homeschooled the first year, then the parents decided she was missing too much. Arrangements were made to send her to RVA, Rift Valley Academy, in Kenya. Their son decided that if Brook was going...so was he.

There's the intro to all of this.

Sam joins me in the living room for a few more minutes of the 'lay of the land' in Kenya and Rift Valley. THEN the story moves into evolution. Okaaaaay...some of you may believe that your uncle was a monkey. Perhaps he acted like one. I have a couple of brothers that do...you remember the Brat don't you?... but...

If you present a theory as a theory...that's one thing. But please do not present a theory as fact.

As I headed to the shower...Sam started flipping channels.

One Foot Warm and Cozy

The other is freezing! Well. Maybe not freezing...since I do own several full pairs of socks. ;o)

I cast on for the second sock last night while watching Dancing With the Stars. I even knitted all but four rows of the ribbing.

End of the Week

And a long week it's been too! I worked 40 hours this week. I haven't done that since August 2003!!! Whew.

Mama has settled down. She's still hurting and still worried about whether the surgery worked because the nerve across the top of her left hip still hurts when she walks...but of course it hasn't had time to heal yet. She really knows that...but there's still that little bit of doubt and worry that she's gone through the pain of surgery for nothing.

I remembered to put my camera in my purse. This is what the western evening sky looked like yesterday (Thursday) when I left the library (it's behind me).

The weather was really supposed to kick up. It did east of us in Louisiana, but we weren't hit hard at all. Thank God! Daingerfield is an old town...supposed to be the second oldest in Texas after Nacogdoches. The above photo is actually a second location. The original town was several blocks south...and burned. Businesses moved to the railroad track to rebuild. The cars are parked by probably the newest church building in town...although another is in the process of being built now.

I took some "color" photos on the way home.

Seems to Be Slowing Down...

Even though I worked the library today...will all week...and stopped by Mama's twice, things seemed slower. Marilyn checked her this morning before she left for work. I almost had to roll a patron to the door in a rolling chair from the computer area and boot her out for lunch. Sheesh! I made a quick trip to Mama's and got her lunch set out. She asked for the chicken salad, some orange salad*, a slice of apple, and she got her own drink. Kissed her on the check. Back in the 4-Runner to meet Sam in town at Hawkins...about the only thing I eat there is a fish sandwich... it has REAL fried catfish fillets on the bun with cheese and tartar sauce...not a frozen breaded fish square.

After work, I made a run to the grocery store for my groceries...then back to Mama's. She was ready for another shower...and once again asked for chicken salad, etc.

Tomorrow is another day...

Oh...the orange salad...

1 pkg. orange Jello
1 tub Cool Whip
8 ounces cottage cheese
1 can Mandarin orange slices, drained (sometimes I use 2 cans...love 'em!!)

Take a dry package of Jello...do not add the water. Mix it with the Cool Whip and cottage cheese. Stir well to incorporate the Jello powder. Add the Mandarin oranges. Stir. Refrigerate.

You can use sugar-free Jello and (if you like it) the sugar free and/or fat free Cool Whip. You can also use different flavors of Jello and different canned fruits...

Another Sister?

I must've really been out of it yesterday. I don't have 'a' sister. LOL Don't know why I'd want 'another' one. Sheesh.

Mama's on her own. She has food in the refrigerator. I got scatter rugs off the floor. PIcked up odds and ends of things she's piled where it's convenient. (I'll be in trouble when she can maneuver enough to start trying to locate her possessions.) Laundry baskets set aside for jammies and undies... and another for towels. The laundry room is straightened up with her new upright freezer in place. Baby brother Joey has to move the two filing cabinets out of the dining room back into the laundry room. I put two pieces of paper in the proper places on the floor with directions about which cabinet goes where (not where they were). When he gets it done...I'll see if he follows directions. LOL


Most of all...Mama is coherent. She's following medication directions. Not getting up and roaming the house at night. I'm concerned about her fluid intake so took the insulated large mug the hospital charged an arm and a leg for, packed it with ice, filled it with water and put the lid on with the straw. I left her with instructions to drink from it every time she passed it. This evening when I went to check on her...there wasn't but about an inch and a half gone. She does drink milk when she takes her meds as well as a glass of tea with her meals. So she's probably getting more fluid intake than I realize.


Older brother Junior (yep, got one of them), his wife, and their teenage grandson were there. They brought food! Grilled chicken and ribs, scalloped potatoes, pinto beans, cheese, barbeque sauce. We sat and visited. Younger brother BJ came in. He wanted t-shirts for the 'family reunion.' I think Mama dropped him on his head when he was a baby. ;o) Eventually everyone left. I got her supper on the table. Junior had cooked for me...so I brought my part home and shared with Sam.

Don't go "Shame!" Mama's not much on left over meat. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

And the story continues...

Pooped!

Got her home. Oh MY!!! Why couldn't I have had another sister?! One who also doesn't work outside the home???!!! And could help with this woman? YOU think your mother is a piece of work...you should know mine.

I do have one sister-in-law who does a fantastic job...as much as Mama will let her. I just bulldoze in and do it...to a certain extent. Marilyn also has a day job...but she is SO good. I cleaned out Mama's laundry room where she's just stuffed things over the last 9 years...or more. Boxes that the toaster/telephone/bath scales/telephone (yep another)/etc. were trashed along with a bunch of other stuff. I think between the kitchen's outdated stuff and the laundry room I bagged up 4 or 5 bags of trash.

I made the mistake of mentioning trashing a box of lids...instant coffee/Miracle Whip salad dressing/peanut butter. Well....I had to go dig it outta the trash. "Lids are plastic now. Those will be antiques!" Yeah...75 years after she dies!! Being the good daughter that I am...I retrieved them...and threw something else away so that the box would fit back in the cabinet. ;o)

Mama did take a jaunt with walker in hand into the laundry room to check on her new freezer. She liked the baskets I put in to make certain a bag of frozen hard squash/tomatoes/etc. did not fall out and break one of her toes or feet.

We sat at the dining table yesterday...mid-afternoon...for a snack so that she could take a pill. Then she proceeded to sort through her private drug store and set aside her dosage before bedtime. THEN, she tilted the medicine cup into her mouth. NO! Those are for tonight!!! She rolled them out of her mouth and back into the cup.
SO...today...when I ran to town to put gas in her car and buy a few groceries, I also picked up a 4 time-a-day 7 days-a-week pill sorter. She wasn't going to use it. So...I issued the ultimatum. "You either sit right there after lunch and sort your pills on your own (with me sitting beside her), or 'I' am going to do it. IF I have to do it, I'll confiscate the bottles and carry them back and forth with me." It worked. We sorted and sectioned pills.

After her last surgery a couple/three years back, she stayed with us. One night she got kookie or as baby brother the Brat AKA Joey would say, "Goofey as a car-hit dog." Sam is almost positive that she double-dosed herself before bedtime. I'm going to try my best to make certain that doesn't happen again.

Remember...she can't take the 'good' stuff. But combinations can be disasterous.

This afternoon is set aside for 'iron her clothes.' Yikes! I better get back over there before she's up from her nap!