When on the Road

 You tend to put off medical problems unless they're dire.  I figured my teeth could wait.  But that has come to an end.  

Earlier this week I finally saw a dentist and had my teeth cleaned.  Not something that was done often while we were on the road.  Since I have periodontal disease that was taken care of also.  Don't you just love being numbed up for scraping and scaling?  It wasn't all that bad, I guess the painkiller drugs are getting better.  I go back in July to be reassessed.  The technician did say my pockets weren't all that deep considering the length of time since my last visit.   Years ago as I can't remember!  As a going away gift they gave me an electric toothbrush and special toothpaste Enamelon to use along with floss and mouthwash.  Considering how much money we gave them it was the least they could do!

Jim is doing good with the treatment he had Wednesday for the lesions on his head.  There are red spots but it looks about the same to me.  But it itches and it is annoying for him.  Picked up some meds today, one is topical, the other is an antibiotic.

                                               Handmade cards Because

No one displays an email on the mantel

or

Shows off a tweet on the refrigerator

or

Saves a Facebook Post in a box of treasures

Total for 2023

                                                      107

This first card was for a challenge, make a spring card.  When I think of Spring I think of Tulips.  What says Spring to you?  This is all Stampin' Up! product

There is always a need for sympathy cards.  This is Stampin' Up! Gingko Branch and Timeworn Type embossing folder

Just using up some of my beautiful DSP.  Stampin' Up! makes it easy with the color coordinating, paper matches ink matches DSP.  I also attached some of the DSP to envelopes

Club Scrap!  Challenge was to use circles and I did!

March template from Crafty Al, again just using my stash and putting pretty DSP on envelopes

I have no idea on how long this card was waiting to be completed!  I have squirrel moments....see someone's work and want to make it and forget my current project.  Find it later and complete it.  

So much paper...I wonder if I'll ever use it all?  I am trying!

All is right in our world

I am an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Showing how to make quick and easy cards. Follow me here or on Facebook:  Card making with Linda for more detailed instruction. To place an order, head over to my website to view the digital catalogs

https://lindagoudelock.stampinup.net/

Memorial Day Weekend

This past week we've been very busy with medical appointments.  Jim had a nuclear stress test and an echocardiogram which came back normal "for his age".  I think he has all his specialists set up now.  He is also scheduled for a sleep study where he'll spend the night in hospital.  Jim still isn't sleeping well and perhaps this will determine why.  Also, may lead to the cpap machine again.  Jim was told not to take naps for two weeks!  It's only been a few days but he's staying awake.  He was told that it's not unusual for a man his age to take naps but not every day.  

I continue with my therapy for a few more weeks but I must say it's working.  And as a bonus it should help lift my boobs!  😊

Seriously, my shoulder is much better and my range of motion is almost where it should be.  

We've both gained weight this past week!  Not good!! But since we're in the no cook season we'll be eating more salads and that should help.

                                  Handmade cards because:

No one displays an email on the mantle or

Shows off a tweet on the fridge or

Saves a Facebook post in a box of treasures

Total for the year, 197 cards made

All Stampin' Up! on this set of cards using a One Sheet Wonder from Jessica Taylor

  

Also from Stampin' Up!  Flowering Cactus stamps and paper and OSW from Jessica Taylor

This set of cards was made with a Sheetload Template from Crafty Al.  The paper is from Echo Park

Simply Succulents stamps and dies from Stampin' Up! as is the cardstock

 

For the next set a cards I stamped my white paper with Timeless Tropical from SU.  Cut it according to a osw template from Jessica Taylor

And made these cards!  

Do you like happy mail?  I rarely get any but recently I received two cards from friends.  Sure made my day!  This is why I make and send cards

Enjoy this long weekend and take some time to Honor those who have died so we can enjoy our freedoms

All is right in our world

Same old stuff

 

How the heck are ya?  We're good and pretty much the same as last week and the week before...no, that's not true.  Pretty sure I passed a small gallstone a few days ago.  Same symptoms as before just not the excruciating pain.  I did bring it upon myself.  I've been eating more and more fatty type foods...Testing myself?  no self control?  who knows....

But I am watching myself now.  We'll see how long that lasts!

This picture is but one of the beds being spruced up here at Spring Branch RV Park.  When you come in the main entrance to the park (there are three) this is what will greet you on the right.  Liz, one of our campers has been doing a lot of hard work in keeping the beds weeded, spiffed up and making fresh.  Matter of fact there are a lot of improvements happening here.

 

This driftwood (is it still driftwood if found in a dry climate?) is to the left of the bed above.  

               My goal again this year is to make 500 cards.  

                             6 September 2020...249 cards

                            Handmade Cards Because:

                No one displays an email on the mantle

                   Or shows off a tweet on the fridge

          Or saves a Facebook post in a box of treasures

Another set of cards using a template from Crafty Al.  I really like this one!  Stampin' Up! Paper supplies used

All is right in our world

August update

So, how was your weekend? The month of July?  Getting out or doing much? Inquiring minds need to know.  We're dong our bit by staying home and I must say it's quite boring.  Not that I mind spending quality time with Jim. He's the love of my life and we just celebrated our 46th anniversary.  But watching each other read, play games and spend time on social media makes for a boring existence. So blogging doesn't fit into this equation.  It's to hot to spend time outdoors.  Good thing we go out to eat and buy groceries or we'd never leave the house!  Not much to write about.

We finished all of the Agatha Raisin TV seasons on Acorn.  Started a new show, Delicious with Dawn French, should be funny.  Yesterday Jim found a couple of movies to watch...one with Bruce Willis that I didn't watch. Also a repeat for us which was about the beginning of the Avengers.  Good special effects.  

Jim has been taking Young Living CBD oil for a couple of weeks and it seems to be helping him sleep.  And he says he's using his inhaler less.  It is a bit early to tell,  but this is promising.  Hopefully it will also help with the arthritis.  If you're interested in trying CBD shoot me an email.  

Overall we're doing OK on the health front.  I've strayed from my vegan diet just because it's so much easier to fix our meals.  This must stop!  😁  In the past week I've made tacos, fajitas and yesterday a pizza.  Favorites to be sure but loaded with to much fat for me.

My goal again this year is to make 500 cards.  

10 August 2020...233 cards

Handmade Cards Because:

No one displays an email on the mantle

Or shows off a tweet on the fridge

Or saves a Facebook post in a box of treasure

Using scraps that I cut into long triangles I made these two cards.  Stampin' Up! products except the sentiment

Using Echo Park papers I assembled these in no time Using a template from Crafty Al

Using another template from Crafty Al these three cards use 6 inch square papers, mixed and matched. The stamps are from Stampin' Up!

Jim got a new desktop!  His laptop has been dying for quite some time and he nursed it along without complaining .... much.  It was time to replace it!

                   As you can see our view is a blocked a wee bit.

                              All is right in our world

High Temperatures and Heat Advisories

Goodness me it has been hot.  To be expected this time of year but still,  it's way to hot.  Especially when there is no place to go to cool off.  We have to wear masks when inside buildings.  Neither one of us like trying to breathe through them.  

So consequently we stay home while our AC's struggle to maintain 80 degrees in here.  If you don't move it's OK!  LOL

My plants have to be watered each day and they sure look good.  No more blooms on the tomato but two fruit are growing.  The plumerias aren't blooming but I gave them a feed and planted cucumber in one pot and summer squash in the other.  I've got the seeds so I thought I'd try growing some food.

Neither one of are is doing much.  Reading, gaming and boob tube watching.  They've improved the WiFi here so streaming a movie usually works.  We were able to watch The Black Panther yesterday and I thought it was pretty good.  On Acorn we've started watching the old Lovejoy TV series from 1986, staring Ian McShane.  Funny comedy

Of course I have daily chores and lately Jim has been helping.  My right arm is a pain in the a** but what can I do?  Just take ibuprofen and carry on.  Sure messes with all aspects of my life.  Jim has also taken care of the black tank, feeding the birds and doing small repairs.  

My goal again this year is to make 500 cards.  

16 July 2020...204 cards

Handmade Cards Because:

No one displays an email on the mantle

Or shows off a tweet on the fridge

Or saves a Facebook post in a box of treasure

Using a template from Call Me Crafty Al and Echo Park papers I made these 'pink' cards.  Have I told you pink isn't my favorite color? The white card bases are Stampin' Up!

We are starting to discuss travel plans...October is what we're shooting for.  Hopefully we can travel safely and find stops along the way to Florida

All is right in our world

Christmas in July

I was up at 0430 this morning.  Not much going on at that hour.  We do have employed neighbors and they get up and start leaving around 0630.  That's a decent hour to rise, especially if you're retired.  But 0430 is just to early!

  

Along with my morning coffee I did squeeze in some reading and card making.  I'll share those in another blog.  

Decided to make biscuits this morning.  We love them and I figured if I made them early enough the house wouldn't stay hot so long.  Our two AC's have to work hard to maintain 80 degrees in here.  There's some left over and Jim can have gravy and biscuits tomorrow for breakfast.

After breakfast I started laundry, got dressed and made the bed.  Walked to the office to mail a card.  Did the dishes when I got back.  About an hour later I had to take a nap.  Didn't sleep all that well but at least my eyes were shut and I was prone.  

I was back up around noon with no idea of what to have for lunch.  Lots of leftovers and veggies in the fridge.  So we had a salad and spaghetti.  Jim did the dishes, bless his heart.  After a bit it was his turn to take a nap.  

It's hot here...heat advisory, so we don't venture out unless we have to.  Jim drove the trash down, big box and garbage along with recyclables. Now we're just gaming, reading or you tube watching. 

My goal again this year is to make 500 cards.  

9 July 2020...196 cards

Handmade Cards Because:

No one displays an email on the mantle

Or shows off a tweet on the fridge

Or saves a Facebook post in a box of treasure

This card is a challenge card using using the colors of pink, red, yellow and green.  All Stampin' Up! except for the large Hibiscus.  That's a stamp I've had forever

This card also uses those same colors.  Those items in the right hand corner I cut out after stamping them.  Again All Stampin' Up! products

This card template from Jessica Taylor was fun to do.  Using  6 x 6 inch paper. All Stampin' Up! products

Are you ready for this?  

Christmas Cards in July!  Among card makers this is when we start on Holiday cards because as we all know the holidays sneak up on you.  Using a template from Crafty Al I used Stampin' Up! DSP, that's the red and green patterned paper along with Echo Park cut a parts.  All of this is from my stash and I now have a start on my Christmas cards.  It really didn't take long once I had all the paper cut.  I'm already using the same template to make more

All is right in our world

Rainy Day

Two days ago it was sunny and nice. We had a grocery list as long as my arm....well, maybe just my hand. So off we went to get some preferred products. Alas, not my coffee creamer. Insert big sigh here.  HEB was so much fun!  Jim dropped me off and said take your time, which I did.  First off, at the entrance there were several employees handing out wipes for the buggy’s and before you could enter a nice young man asked me to use hand sanitizer.  

My first stop is always produce and there were no empty spots. I did have to buy cherry tomatoes because they were out of compari tomatoes, our preferred for salads.  Maybe 15 people milling around shopping.  For a treat I got us each some sushi, mine vegan and Jim had California roll.

No one handing out samples, no cheese tasting. I saw some spaces in the lunch meat section.  Signage! Just about everywhere. Limits on how many you can get.  Sensible.  No eggs!  I still had some from my delivery awhile back. Checking out there were signs on the floor.  Maintaining six feet between shoppers and don’t approach until cashiers signal you. You remain at the register while your groceries are being bagged, again, to maintain distance. And almost all registers were open!  I wasn’t aware of it when I entered the store but one door was an entrance and the other was the exit. At both doors the employees greeted us and thanked us for coming. At each register was of list of out of stock items and expected delivery dates.  Quite impressive with how they’re dealing with this.  Only a handful of shoppers were wearing gloves and masks.  And way to many complaining about the lack of items.  I mean seriously, no canned green beans?  Cracks me up.  Not sure how we’ll survive without cut green beans!

Wednesday I was out of bed early.  Experiencing pain in my back and stomach like when I passed a gallstone.  Fortunately I didn’t.  But the whole day I was out of sorts, laying down often.  Wasted a perfectly sunny day! Went to bed at my usual time and slept all night.

Today is rainy so we gamed and YouTubed it.

This little guy lives next door!  Friendly too, we both gave him (her) a scratch which it enjoyed 

I didn't notice these last spring.  White Iris planted under the oaks near the office.  Just about past

My goal again this year is to make 500 cards.  

2 April 2020...77 cards

Handmade Cards Because:

No one displays an email on the mantle

Or shows off a tweet on the fridge

Or saves a Facebook post in a box of treasure

This is a Sheetload of cards for March from Call me Crafty Al.  I picked three coordinating papers from a 12 x 12 pad and cut all the paper yesterday morning while being uncomfortable.  Then yesterday when Jim napped I glued all the papers onto the Stampin' Up! cardstock.  This morning I stamped the butterflies, punched them out and adhered it to the focal point with sentiment.

All is right in our world

Sunshine, Glorious Sunshine

It has been wonderful not dashing here and there in the rain.  We did make a trip to HEB Sunday, I needed coffee creamer.  The game didn't start until 1400 so we went early and I bought the taco ingredients that I needed. Jim had ground beef version while I had charro beans.  Lunch was over before the game started.

How about those Kansas City Chiefs?  The first quarter was very disappointing, but they rallied and won. Neither one of us like San Francisco so guess who we'll be cheering on in the Super Bowl!

My goal again this year is to make 500 cards.  

20 January 2020 15 cards

Handmade Cards Because:

No one displays an email on the mantle

Or shows off a tweet on the fridge

Or saves a Facebook post in a box of treasures

Call Me Crafty Al posts a SheetLoad of Cards sketch each month.  This is the January 2020 sketch.  All instructions are posted on a printout and she makes it look easy on YouTube.  Here I used Echo Park patterned papers, chipboard and stickers on Stampin' Up! cardstock.

Spring will be here before you know it.

Speaking of spring, all the rain we had last week has greened up our grasses.  Looks bright and cheerful out there.  Still cold, but tolerable.

We've pretty much taken the last couple days off.  Just staying home and chillin'.  Of course I did my usual of laundry, dishes and fixing meals.  

All is right in our world