It Has Been Taken Care Of

What the heck does that mean? It has been taken care of. Especially when you are trying to pay for the meal that you had in a small restaurant located out on the byroads of Louisiana.

When our son heard this story, he started laughing and suggesting that it was time for us to buy new clothes. But we did not look so shabby, and, in fact,  we both had on new jackets. And we are old, but I think we look pretty good for 68 and 71. And we did not order the cheapest items on the menu!

When I insisted on paying for our meal, since "we don't do things like that." The cashier would not hear of it. As we knew no one in the restaurant, I asked who had paid for our meal. She said that she was not allowed to tell us. So instead of causing a scene, we wished the cashier a "Merry Christmas" and left.
Forgetting that we hadn't even left a tip for the young waitress😩.
Guess that means a stop back at that restaurant the next time we are traveling on that road.

(Yes, I have heard about Pay It Forward. But I won't be paying forward to folks who don't need it.)

Hebert Bear

Friday I sewed up a batch of Hebert (a bare) Bears to give as gifts for six little great nieces and nephews. Friday they looked like this:

And this morning they looked like this:

What a fun project❣️

Write Your Name on Your Paper

I would like to have a dollar for every single time I said that in my 37 years of teaching English. I am sure that I would be rich.

Actually, I said, "Write your name on your paper so that when you become rich and famous, I will become rich with your signature." The kids laughed at my idiotic remark, but signed their names. They knew I would never save all of their papers, and they were almost right. I have a HUGE box of reports and other school ephemera ready to be burned this winter. 

But I am reasonably sure that one of Marcus Westberg's treasures with signature is not in my stash. He was one of my shining students back in the mid 1990's (20 years ago!). If I remember correctly, Marcus was such a sharp student that his fifth grade teachers at The American School of The Hague recommended that he jump right over sixth grade, and then he landed in my 7th grade English class. 

Besides remembering Marcus as a conscientious student from Sweden, one of the Scandinavian countries, I had not thought about him in two decades. Until this week I realized that I was following him on Instagram. How that happened, I do not know. But I did let him know that his old English teacher was keeping an eye on him, while he and his wife Kate are keeping a photographer's eye on our beautiful world.

Take a moment to check out Marcus's Instagram (@lifethroughalensphotography) and their website (www.lifethroughalens.com).Click here.

Another example of how "rich" teachers can become from the students they had the privilege of teaching.

(Photo source: Marcus Westberg- www.LifeThroughALens.com)

Garden Neglect Results

Who says you can't go off on a six week vacation and expect this bounty when you return? 

No watering happened in my veggie beds the entire time we were away. Here is the result from one self-germinated English cucumber, three ichiban eggplants I planted last May, and two bell pepper plants. While I was worrying if my 350 boxwoods out in the front yard were going to live with only a once a week watering, the veggies were having a ball. And there will be kale stamppot for dinner very soon😍

(And thanks to my sweet neighbor and sweet sister-in-law, the boxwoods seem to have survived, too😘)

Let's get Political

Sorry, Dad☹️ I know that you told me to refrain from talking about sex, religion, and politics with family and friends, but I CAN ask my blog followers to take a few minutes on this Sunday morning to read this letter from Barbara Res. Click Here

No More Hiding

This sweet blondie with the blue beads

And this portrait of a lovely young lady 

Came out of hiding in a dusty attic yesterday and found our home. 

Last spring while visiting the new City Hall of Deventer, we spied a painting by Paul Bodifee (1866-1938) hanging in one of the rooms. While admiring the painting, an attendant at the grand opening of the City Hall said that his wife had two paintings by the same artist and no one they knew liked the portraits. We said that we were interested, got his e-mail address, and the rest is history.

According to the last owner of these two paintings by Deventer artist Paul Bodifee, the paintings had been hidden away in an attic for almost 30 years. His wife was gifted them by an elderly gentleman moving to a care facility for the elderly back in the late 1980's. As no one really liked the girls, they had been stashed away in the attic.

Now these sweet ladies do not have to hide anymore. 

They have a home❣

Show Some Respect

Respect

On November 11, 1916 my father-in-law was born in the beautiful city of Deventer, The Netherlands. 100 years ago!

 

Almost thirty years of my life I knew Pa, or rather Opa. With all due respect, I guess that I thought I knew him. And he thought that he knew me. But it wasn't until after his death almost seven years ago that I began to know the real man he was.

Over the years that we were family, both he and I shared differing opinions. He once jokingly said to me, "Go home, Yankee!" I immediately let him know that I was not a Yankee, but a "Rebel." And I wasn't going anywhere.

Pa never was quite sure that my decision to go back to teaching when our son was only a couple of months old was the right choice. And then when we decided to place his grand-son and namesake in an American school instead of a Dutch one, he surely cringed at even the thought. What discussions Pa and Ma must have had when J. chose to do his university study in America!

But even with our differences of thought and opinions, I could always count on him to show me respect. Just as he accepted the decisions that I made with my husband for our family, I have learned to accept the decisions that Pa made in his life of 93 years. 

No matter how hard we try, we can never "walk in another person's shoes." But we can respect the steps that they have taken.

(I borrowed from a realtor's website these photos of my father-in-law's childhood home on the Laan van Meerdervoort in The Hague, The Netherlands.) Pa and his family moved here in his first years, so he surely made a few steps in this lovely Dutch house built in 1913.

I can only imagine how this stairwell must have looked in the early 1920's❣

And then the garden where Pa played as a young child.

Room with a View

Almost time to go back home. 

Winter is coming! 

Missing my Flip! 

Missing my walks around the meadow and pond! 

Wondering if my 350 boxwoods made it through the drought of Autumn 2016 ?

Wondering if I should get back to writing my blog (as well as keep up Instagram)?

Wondering.

The Girl Nextdoor

My dear father always said there were three subjects that you shouldn't discuss among family or friends: Sex, Religion, and Politics.

Dad never said not to discuss Ethnicity or Race.

My nextdoor neighbors are the parents of a local television newsreader, as well as sweet, loving mother of two babies and one more due in November. I would like to share Britney's blogpost with my followers.

http://britneyoffscript.blogspot.com/2016/09/give-back-little-black-boy.html

And I will try to share the television interview with Britney and her husband Matt. Click here.

I shared these with my family on my husband's Facebook account. Fifteen family members viewed it, and not one responded. (Update:Two members responded. Both I expected, since they usually tell me their opinion. Even when they know I may not agree. I like that❣)

Maybe Dad added Race to the list and never informed me.

You Can Use Sour Milk to Make a Delicious White Cake

 (Although this looks like a yellow cake.)

We did it again! We let an entire gallon of low fat milk go sour!

This time I made Bisquick biscuits with some sour milk. Tonight the fluffy biscuits were great topped with left-over beef/pork stew.

While the biscuits were baking, I whipped up a one layer white cake recipe that called for sour milk. No icing was needed, and that recipe will definitely be a keeper. 

(I'll stop with two pieces tonight. Promise❣)

I even know a few tricks to make milk sour, in case I need it for future cakes.

Killing Me Softly

Or how to die unnoticed in the USA. 

Here I go complaining about health care in the States--

Yesterday I went to my Nurse Practitioner for my required blood pressure check-up. I think they want me to show up every 6 months, but I wait until my meds prescription has expired. That means about every 15 months. Or sometimes even longer if I beg for meds after the prescription expiration. So, you see, I am not jumping to visit the doctor or nurse.

Except for a higher than "normal" blood pressure and being between 10-15 pounds overweight, I am fine. But if you check my medical records around here, you might find that I am no longer living.  

Yesterday when I asked the practitioner's assistant if a record of my broken foot was recorded in my file last September ( I had that "fixed" at the hospital emergency room across the driveway from this office), she got into a real panic trying to find me on her database. Then she asked, "When was the last time you came here for a visit?" When I said Winter 2015, she said, "Oh, that was before we changed over to the computer." And then she started asking me questions that I remember filling in on a form when I became a "patient" of this practitioner around 5-6 years ago. Then I reminded her that I had been a patient of this doctor/hospital service for 10 years and had been told that my files from my previous doctor were somewhere in a moving box. The assistant said, "Yes, they are in an archive room." 

My question is, "Where is my current file?" Did I only get added to the computer if I made a visit to the doctor since the date they were required to keep personal data on a computer? 

Who is worried about Big Brother watching you? 

I am pretty sure that he could care less!

Happy Birthday, Mammaw❣

Today is my Mammaw (Emily Frances New) Ridge's birthday. 

I remember her yummy Martha Washington bonbons and peanut butter balls that she made every Christmas. 

I remember crawling into a freezing feather bed in the room across the hall and searching for a warm spot. 

I remember her delicious chicken and dumplings.

 

I remember that she liked to cook, but hated washing dishes (like me, the dishes part). And Mom said Mammaw got every pot and pan dirty in the cooking process.

I remember my brothers peeing off of her back porch.

 

I remember going out to the outhouse and being afraid that a snake would crawl up the hole and bite me. And I remember when she got a real bathroom in her house❣ 

I remember sleeping on the couch in her living room on Christmas Eve and seeing my parents set up my little brother's toys and accepting that they were Santa Claus.

I remember my Mammaw coming down to Alexandria with Uncle Gene to see how we were after our automobile accident 49 years ago. 

I remember her supervising my mother's painting of our living room when I was in high school. 

I remember Mammaw getting off the Continental Trailways Bus looking like she had just made a five minute ride, when actually she had been on the bus the entire day.

I remember that we missed my Mammaw's funeral in 1993, and Jr. said he wished we had gone there.

Born August 15, 1895 and died December 13, 1993. She lived to be 98 years old❣

Lost but Found

These two rascals ran away from me when we went out for our morning walk yesterday. 

After about an hour and one-half the hunter (beagle) Flip heard us calling by the creek and came to us. 

But Flip left his black buddy Nismo and his GPS collar on the other side of the deep wet creek. 

I was devastated😩 

Nismo is our grand-dog. 

Nismo is our son's dog. 

Nismo is still a puppy dog. 

Nismo is a city dog. 

Nismo is a sweet dog. 

Nismo is an enthusiastic follower dog. 

I thought that we had lost Nismo the Dog.

Our son left his job in The Big City and drove three hours to come here to help us find Nismo in our woods. While our son climbed in and out of the wet creek about three times, Nismo just showed up at my husband's Kimco four-wheeler. 

Whew! 

And Nismo went home this morning! 

Back to The Big City! 

Back to our son!

So glad Nismo is safe and with his boss❣

Lindy Loopy and Baby Shower Crafts

This is my latest Lindy Loopy for my niece Emily's baby Ginny due mid-September. The onesie I used for this one had no interesting shape, so I just went "wonky." The measuring tape ribbon under the label is my temporary trademark.

And so funny that one of the gifts at Em's tea party on Sunday was a stuffed pink elephant.

This future baby girl has brought out the "crafty" in all of us. This is the future granny's beautiful gift bow creation.

And Auntie Amanda whipped up this lovely diaper cake centerpiece. 

Fun times❣

Trouble with Instagram?

Just Update on the App Store❣

It took me two tries, but now everything works❣

Still trying to figure out why our electricity was out for three hours yesterday. I called to report it at 4:00 pm. At 7:00 pm we were almost in the dark, so I phoned again. Five minutes later we had light❣

Hmmm. 

How coincidental is that?

Think they forgot to flip our switch?

Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

Back 40 years ago, my "best friend" had a copy made of my antique ring that my aunt gave to me when I was 13 years old. When I mentioned this to my mom, she said to me, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery." But I never was quite sure how to feel about my BFF "stealing" my jewelry style. I got over it. I still wear my ring and have for over 50 years. The "best friend" didn't stick around that long. Maybe she found someone else to copy.

Speaking of copying, one of my final student jobs in college back in 1970 was as assistant to a professor of English at my university. Most of my peers thought that I helped grade/score multiple choice tests and read essays for spelling and grammar mistakes. But my most intensive task (for $1 an hour) was to check essays and written projects for plagiarism. Since Google didn't come into existence until the late 1990's, all I could do was check footnotes with books/ magazines. (Remember those crazy things that we had to manipulate on mostly manual typewriters at the bottom of the pages of our papers and also the superscript numbers to signal you to look down at them? Grrrr)

So for two semesters I spent lots of hours in the air-conditioned university library paging through hundreds of books about Shakespeare (England's most infamous plagiarizer) and many other English language related books or magazines. Thanks to footnotes which were required back then, I checked whether direct quotes were punctuated correctly with quotation marks and whether indirect quotes were paraphrased but still documented with footnotes. And I looked for language/style that read as EL (Encyclopedia Language). As a university senior in English Education, my employer and I thought that I could recognize words and writing style that did not quite fit writing for my underclassmates. (Chuckle, chuckle!) A Google search would have made my job more accurate and far more enjoyable. But that luxury did not exist. Nor did any computer.

But computer searches do exist today. You can be assured that I am not the only one who uses them to check sources/facts.

I don't even earn $1 an hour, but I find out if what I read and hear is "original" or maybe just a very good copy.

Wasps😡 and Heat😡

Don't know which is worst. 

This unbearable heat or stinging wasps!

Can't get ahead of the weeds, since working outside in the early mornings is too humid.

I won't work outside in the middle of the day, since I will surely get sun stroke.

And beginning a yard job that is impossible to finish in an hour is not what I like to do after supper

Can't use my swollen hand/arm from a wasp sting as excuse much longer.

I'm doomed😩

Recycle It--Strange Country Folks

Why do some folks who live out in the country next to huge forests and fields throw their garden/lawn compost into the weekly trash pick-up?

When we lived in The Netherlands, we lived next door to really nice Dutch neighbors who at one time had been real farmers. After retiring, they still lived in the farmhouse and had a veggie garden, a couple of ponies, a dog, and a flower garden. But they threw their garden waste in the weekly trash pick-up.

In the early 2000's, our Dutch village garbage and compost pick-up became a paid service. We were charged by the weight of the garbage we left in our containers on pick-up day. I actually found this system quite challenging and interesting. We learned to separate our trash and to use recycling containers in the village for paper and glas. I don't remember about the metal recycling, so we must not have had much of that. 

Besides being issued a special garbage container coded especially for us so that we could be charged, we were issued a green container for compost/garden/lawn waste. We were also charged for that weight. Luckily our friendly gardener had already started a compost heap out behind our garage, so we never paid to dispose of that waste. It just rotted and turned into good stuff to be returned to the veggie garden or my flowerbeds. And as we lived at the end of a farm road, no one had any problem with our "heap." Not even us😘

I still wonder why our Dutch neighbors paid to send their compost and twigs to the village compost center. Well, this morning I went to deposit real trash for today's pick-up and saw that my neighbor here in the US was doing the same as my former neighbor in The Netherlands.

We live out in the "sticks," folks, and they were leaving bags of sticks, dirt, and garden waste for the garbage collectors. 😩😩😩

Duh❣Should I show my neighbors my compost heap out behind our barn?

What a Big Snout You Have, Flippy

Yesterday our 6 year old beagle Flip decided to go north when I went south while taking our morning walk. 

Needless to say, I was worried that he had escaped again. But he is a roamer and a hunter, so I knew he would eventually come back home. And come back home, he did. Scarcely able to put two legs in front of the back two, he ambled in around lunch time. Filthy dirty and with a visibly swollen nose and mouth! 

When my hub washed our pup, all went reasonably well. Then I tried drying his head, and there was a long cry of pain that broke my heart. After watching Flip try to put his head down on the tight and swollen face on his bed, I decided that something must have bitten him while he was out in the dark woods behind our house. 

Whenever we show signs of allergy, we take 

So after reading on the Internet that it is safe to give dogs Benadryl (diphenhydramine), we gave Flip a teaspoon of his favorite peanut butter with one little pink pill (25 mg) hidden inside. 

Not just any allergy medicine will be safe, but the one pictured above should not hurt. The ingredients are pretty straight-forward on the package and the website. 

After the first pill ( dosage=1 mg per pound of pup), the swelling was still there, but Flip could rest and showed signs of being hungry and thirsty. I fed him soft canned food early in the afternoon, but by evening he was ready for something to put his teeth into. Before I went to bed, I gave him one more 25 mg tablet with PB, and we all slept like lambs. 

Today Flip's snout still looks a bit like some other breed of dog, but he is back to his old self ready to chase an orange tennis ball or even escape into the wild.

My Dad's First Father's Day/Birthday Gift--Me❣

My daddy wrote the following letter to my maternal grandparents on his 25th birthday and a day after I was born in 1948. Thought that you might enjoy reading a bit of my family history that I have been carrying around in my keepsakes since my mom gave it to me in the early1960's. 

I will transcribe the letter after my photo of it.

Transcription:

At Home (Pardon Me, I mean "Hospital")

June 23, 1948

Dear "Grandma Ridge":

Just tho't I'd let you folks know that I am only one day old, but this world is no stranger to me. I'm getting used to it already. Beginning to see how things look on the outside. I got tired of the "dark".

I came into this "new world" last nite, June 22nd at 8:55. I caused my Mother quite a bit of suffering and my Daddy quite a bit of worry, but I finally got born. My Daddy said he didn't know if I was worth it or not, but you just wait about 6 months from now and see what he says.

They finally took me in to see my Mother this morning about 11 o'clock. I think she kinda tho't I was cute. My Pop did too. I haven't got a good look at that rascal yet. Kinda anxious to see him up close too.

Aunt Doris stayed with my Mother last nite. She ( my Mom) is all right tho' so don't worry. Think my Pop will take good care of her. Well, Grandma, just tho't I'd let you know of my "arrival". Tell "Grand Pa" "Hello" for me. We'll be seeing you when I get strong enough to travel.

Love, your new "granddaughter", "Linda Cheryl" (over)

P.S. How about coming down here to see me if you can. My Mom & Pop said they would be glad to have you. They'll find time to spend with you maybe, if I don't take too much of it. They'll have plenty room for you. Come on down to see me. Be glad to see my other "Grandma".

Never Ending Boxwood Story

(This is a photo from October 2014.)

After planting 143 boxwood plants in the mud and rain yesterday, I have had it❣

Trying to replace some dead plants along the walkpaths and replant well over 100 plants that did not make it through a drought a couple of autumns ago, I have had it❣

My dogs love sniffing in the muddy soil around the fresh plants and lying on the weed-free areas. Raccoons and armadillos will be checking out the new plants for exposed worm families.

Maybe tomorrow the areas under water will be dry enough for me to finish my boxwood planting.

Then, I've had it❣That is until my hub gets back from his "business" trip and trims the mature boxwoods. Then we can begin rooting new plants.

Just in case these new plantings don't make it😩

(We planted over 250 plants back in the autumn of 2014. This is a photo of our hard work then.)

I Have Had It😘

Heed This Message: Don't Talk to Strangers!

(This message is for my friends and relations who are "nicely seasoned/aka OLD" like I am.)

Don't talk to strangers!

Don't take anything from anyone you do not know! ( Nothing in life is FREE!)

Don't get into the car with just anyone who offers you a lift!

Don't tell someone on the phone (or elsewhere) anything personal ( full name, age, address, social security number, bank account number, credit card number, mobile phone number, passwords) about you or any of your family members!

Don't dial back missed phone calls if you do not recognize the phone number!

Be wary of scams on the phone, on your e-mail, and even face to face!

Because the life's fortune you save, may be the one you will need❣

Climbing Up Mt. Everest is Dangerous? Not for Me!

I am within 400 meters of the summit of Mt. Everest❣

Who cares that it has taken me over 1 1/2 years to get to this elevation? 🚶🏼🚶🏼🚶🏼🚶🏼

The only time that I have difficulty breathing while climbing is when our Louisiana humidity is over 90% with temps in the 90's (30 Celsius)❣

Congrats to all of those fine people who have successfully made it to the real summit of the genuine Mt. Everest and then made it back down to tell about it.

My deepest condolences to those who gave their lives trying.

As for now, I will continue to use my safe method for climbing every mountain.

Blame It on the Three Snakes

Last evening our electricity was out for almost three hours! 

Now that is not so unusual for this state during inclement weather, but we were high and dry. And luckily the moon kept us from being pitch dark.

Here is what the electricity company put on their Facebook:

 "Crews are working to restore power to (Your) Substation due to damage as a result of 3 snakes. An estimated time of restoration will be given as it becomes available."

3rd World Louisiana❣ 

Can't help but ❤️it here❣

How Did You Spend Mother's Day?

Conquering these weeds? (At least for today.)

Admiring too much lettuce? (Wish I had planted all of my beds with this back in early March. Not to eat, but to control weeds❣)

Or making sure that the veggie beds are ready, set, to grow? (Haven't even planted a tomato plant yet!)

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers and all the others❣

You Didn't Know My Mother

like I knew my mother❣(Be sure you read my title before my text😜)

I wish I could say that my mother and I had a special bond, but that wasn't the case. 

We loved each other. We respected each other. We were proud of each other. We were sometimes annoyed with each other. 

We always had a different relationship than with other family members, since I often "slept over" and spent long vacations under her roof.

Mother rarely told me what she really thought about me or what I had done with my life. But she shared with me what she thought about most of the other members of the family and what she thought they were doing with their lives.

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Mother❣Don't worry. Your opinions will always be safe with me.

On to Mt. Everest❣

My latest climbing badge:

Now on to Mt. Everest (8848 meters) and to reaching the 1600 kilometer mark. 

Keep moving, Linda❣

Lights Out

Saturday was the big day I had been waiting for. 

NOT!

My high school graduating class of 1966 held a reunion this last weekend. Hub and I signed up for the dinner/dancing on Saturday evening at the community center and joined the other old gray (and mostly out-of-shape) retired baby boomers. 

Thank goodness for name tags so that I knew who I was speaking to from those forgotten friends and acquaintances that I left behind 50 years ago. Although I can vaguely remember our 10th reunion (where I was seated with newly divorced female classmates that I had never (ever!) conversed with in high school), most of these folks have been as distant as the farthest star. I never was much at keeping up friendships when the school doors were closed for holidays. And having spent almost 30 years of my life after high school living in Europe, I had really distanced myself from my "homies."

There were hugs from formerly close (and even not so close) buddies from school, debate club, chorus, and church. There were even a few shouts across the room from gals and guys that I had known over one half of a century (oh, gads!) ago. I actually had made a mental list of the folks I wanted to make sure to see for perhaps the last time in my life, but before the dinner was even served the lights were dimmed and the music got louder.

Then old, shy Linda pulled back into her former self, and we left the other old folks behind and drove 1 1/2 hours back to our peaceful Wetcreek. A place where we have few dark days and music when we desire it.

Time to Purge My Teaching Papers

I have promised myself that after spending the last eight years of retirement stepping over and moving aside shelves and boxes of English books, handouts, and folders, I would get rid of most of that junk this summer. Well, it is summer already down here in southwest Louisiana, and I have begun the "purge."

After about 1 1/2 hours of sorting up in my craft room, I now have a good start. Four portable stacks of workbooks to go to our local thrift shop and a huge wash basket full of xerox copies of assignments and handouts to be burned in our new metal burn barrel.

I am not any way near finished, but I figured that was enough time to spend on the first effort. And still the loads have to somehow make it downstairs. Maybe later today.

While I was sorting, I ran across this following piece of writing. I am not sure where or when or even if I wrote this. I found it handwritten (by me) on the back of a Bingo game sheet.

Please enjoy and feel free to comment.

"Last week was the worst week of my entire life. It all began when the electricity man stopped by and turned off all of our electricity. Then the water man came by and 'pulled out the plug.' 

After the temperature dropped to -10 degrees, we had popsicle turkey for Thanksgiving dinner with rice dressing slush for dessert. We ran out of candles by Thursday lunch, so we rubbed two sticks together and made a bonfire in the garage. Oops! Our 500 boxes of belongings made good kindling. 

Finally, on the weekend it rained so hard that we put out the fire and finally got some deserved rest. 

Next year I plan to spend Thanksgiving in the Bahamas with my grandmother and grandfather. They live in a cool grass hut on the beach. 

But that is another story."

I Really Like Blogging❣Wetcreek is Back❣

Sometimes you just need a break to realize what you are missing. And I have been missing my daily blogging. So here we go after a weak Spring and no blogpost in April.

Wetcreek is back❣

And wet we are. This morning Flip and I tried our usual 30 minute/2500 steps morning walk around the pond and ended up doubling back when I realized that our walkpath on the other side of the pond was actually part of the pond. As probably the only "non-swimmer" in this family, I didn't want to try to ford through above ankle deep water ( and maybe snakes), so we retraced our steps and came back home to dry ( well, almost) ground. 

Mother Nature is doing her best, but with this kind of weather I can see how ancient temples became overgrown and disappeared in vines and vegetation. 

Tomorrow it is back to the garden/yard and attacking the green monsters that could envelope us while we are drinking coffee out on the front veranda.

This photo taken at the end of April 2015 is inspiration before the perspiration❤️

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Although we are still in a "low land," I just got a new badge for walking/climbing the height of the tallest mountain in the Americas.

The last three months, my daily steps haven't been as numerous as what I usually accomplish in Wetcreek, but I am still walking.

Think we will add a city tour this weekend, and that should boost up the steps. 

Linda, keep(s) walking❣ 

Are You Okay?

When was the last time you checked in on someone you know and asked, "Are you okay?"

Yesterday one of my long time blog friends JP sent me an e-mail message asking if my hub and I were okay. She knew we were far from home and closer to Brussels than she was. She cared that we were safe and sound in this crazy world.

All it took was a short e- mail message to reassure my friend and to assure me that we are not alone in this world.

And we are OKAY❣

Easter Bunny(ies) in the Neighborhood

Just out getting a few steps and ran into this cute (Easter) bunny.

Actually there were two bunnies (and maybe even more❣).

My favorite metal gate on my walk today.

How to ruin the view of your house--solar panels!!!!

Must not be any restrictions for these ugly solar panels.

Former school has become a retirement home. 

That was the view on my morning walk today. Still somber and cloudy weather here in Deventer. Hope it gets better in the next few weeks😩.

Pink Icing and Foamy Vanilla Filling. Bah, Albert Heijn!

I am so happy that Dutch families are using their ovens again. Surely the television program "Heel Holland Bakt" (All of Holland Bakes) has helped that initiative. 

And do they ever need it. Most real Dutch bakery goods taste reasonable but are way too expensive. 

(Luckily bread is still very tasty, as long as you eat it when it is freshly made.)

Supermarket baked goods, on the other hand, leave a lot to be desired. Every single time that I purchase some cake, pie, cookies, tarts, etc. from any of the local supermarkets, I ask myself, "why did you do that?" 

We do eat what we buy, but who knows what we are even eating.

Would you eat this tompouce/Napoleon? Not good, Albert Heijn!

Linda Can Bake

Remember the Jenny Jones Show on television? No? Anyway, that same Jenny Jones can cook. Jenny's Recipe And Jenny has made some great instructional videos on YouTube. 

Last evening I baked Jenny's (no eggs, no butter) real Dutch chocolate cake. 

Yummy! 

Don't you just love my cake cover (aka salad spinner bowl)? I knew that I should have bought that cake cover that I saw at the thrift store on Friday. 

Oh, well!

I (Can't/Don't Like to) COOK

What is better than this endive/mashed potatoes/bacon stamppot for leftovers for tomorrow evening?

What about two of these?

For an "I hate to cook" cook, I always try to prepare enough food for my hub and me to eat for two evening meals. 

Now that we are back at the Beltway Apartment for our "spring/tulip break," we are eating Dutch.

Last night was Chinese Babi Panggang (I found it frozen solid and hiding in the freezer for the last five months).

Tonight's dinner was the stamppot pictured above.

For lunch we had Gouda cheese sandwiches and Nutella sandwiches.

My afternoon snack today was a bowl of thick yoghurt with muesli, while my hub had rolmops (pickled herring) on bread.

My nearest neighbor at Wetcreek, USA recently asked us if we eat like she does. 

I hope she reads this blog post. ;>)))

Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Quick and Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

Only 4 Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons real vanilla

Directions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Stir all four ingredients together. 

Using a heaping teaspoon of dough, roll each teaspoon into a ball. Leave about two inches between cookie balls on ungreased cookie sheet. (I used a silicone liner.) 

Press a fork crosswise on the soft dough. 

Bake for 15 minutes in the 325 degree F oven.

Makes over 36 cookies!

Beds Are Made and I'm Moving

I'm ready for the growing (:(((( and weeding) season. 

Our front flower beds are mulched, and the five raised veggie beds are weeded and schoffled. 

Let the rain come!

I think I have some packages of seeds that need sowing.

Mother Nature will be on her own here at Wetcreek for the next few weeks while I go enjoy some "end of winter" walks near the Beltway Apartment. 

These are my recent accomplishments:

There is no turning back.

Keep walking, Linda!