The sun is shining brightly….

on this Wednesday morning in central Illinois.  It is too warm and humid to have the windows open so I can’t hear the birds chirping.  I can see by looking out my front window that the workers are back working on the houses cattycorner across the street from me. 

I have big plans for this, another day that I have been granted.  First to run some errands (again) then to sit down and take stock of my life and what lies ahead for me.  You know, one day you are young and pretty and you have your whole life ahead of you.  The next day you look around and your children are grown.  Your husband of so many years has been taken from you.  Members of your family and friends are gone too, many taken by the dreaded disease of cancer.  Suddenly it becomes very real to you that you have had your 15 minutes of fame or maybe even 20 minutes.   I am not complaining, just taking a minute to thank God that I have been granted one more day.

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I will be by to visit you all later.  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Prayer requests…

I am asking for prayer for several of my friends today.  Kind thoughts will be fine too!

This morning my next door neighbor Debbie is having serious cancer surgery.

Tomorrow our dear blogging friend Sandie,   http://chattycrone.blogspot.com/ is having serious cancer surgery.

Thursday my brother-in-law Hugh in West Virginia is starting treatment for bladder cancer.

Pat and Darrell in West Virginia are both fighting terrific health battles.

I love these people and I know what they are going through as it has been 1 year since I was first diagnosed with cancer.  Thank you all so much.

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Dreary rainy day here.  Remember the song The World is Waiting for the Sunrise by Les Paul and Mary Ford? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-prZi3Lyh8

That’s me today and praying a lot for Debbie, Sandie, Hugh, Pat and Darrell.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Just to set the record straight and Illinois is proud…

I need to set the record straight on the turkey and the miniature pony.  I was correct about the fox catching poor Snow.   As for the rest of the animals I am posting a quote from my sister.  “The animals on the farm were given to animal rescues or caring people. The only animal purchased was the miniature pony for my son-in-law’s birthday. The other animals came from other animal rescues.”  Thanks to my sis for helping me get  the facts straight.

And now I sadly admit that there has not been an awful lot happening here in Illinois lately to make me feel a great sense of pride.  Julia Collins, thank you for brightening my days the last 3 weeks.

http://voices.suntimes.com/arts-entertainment/the-daily-sizzle/on-a-roll-jeopardy-champ-julia-collins-hits-new-milestone-in-thursday-episode/#.U4fck_ldWSo

JuliaCollins1

Photo courtesy of the www.suntimes.com

Julia is from Kenilworth Illinois.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenilworth,_Illinois  Illinois is proud of you Julia!  What a beautiful smile you have!

And now I am off to do some garage saleing (made up word)   I will catch you all when I get home.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

 

He is Risen….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN77HjfAc8k

  1. Low in the grave He lay,
    Jesus, my Savior,
    Waiting the coming day,
    Jesus, my Lord!
    • Refrain:
      Up from the grave He arose,
      With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
      He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
      And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
      He arose! He arose!
      Hallelujah! Christ arose!
  2. Vainly they watch His bed,
    Jesus, my Savior;
    Vainly they seal the dead,
    Jesus, my Lord!
  3. Death cannot keep his Prey,
    Jesus, my Savior;
    He tore the bars away,
    Jesus, my Lord!

Robert Lowry

Have a truly Blessed Easter!

Beth

I love a sunny day…

and that is what we are having in central Illinois today.  The temp is 38 degrees right now to climb up to the mid 60s.

And speaking of Illinois…I just hate it when our state is pronounced ill-a-noise instead of ill-a-noi’.  Very irritating.  Some commercials are being run now on television by our local gas/electric provider for central Illinois.  These commercials are supposedly telling us how Ameren IL is helping its customers to save money on their utility bill.  That is all fine and dandy but one lady pronounces Illinois with the noise ending.  I probably shouldn’t let it irritate me but it does.  My own thought is lady, you don’t live in Illinois if you can’t pronounce it so why are you in this advertisement?

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Il·li·nois 2 (ĭl′ə-noi′) Abbr. IL or Ill.

A state of the north-central United States. It was admitted as the 21st state in 1818. The area was explored by the French in the late 1600s, ceded by France to the British in 1763, and ceded by them to the newly formed United States in 1783. Springfield is the capital and Chicago the largest city. Population: 12,900,000.

Il′li·nois′an (-noi′ən) adj.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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And this is my rant for Wednesday!  Thank you all for the birthday wishes for my son and the very nice comments about my brother in law and niece.

Have a spectacular day!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

5 Below but…

who cares??  It is only 45 days till Spring.  I am just home from having lab done at the local hospital.  My daughter was kind enough to take me.  Then we went to Bob Evans for breakfast and stopped by  Food Depot on the way home for milk and Prairie Farms Cherry Vanilla ice cream and caramel topping!  Now I think I will bake a cake to eat with it.

Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream - 2680

Photo courtesy of http://www.prairiefarms.com/pd/731946/Cherry-Vanilla-Ice-Cream.aspx

Tomorrow and Wednesday we are under a winter storm watch for 6 –8 inches of snow and several inches more Tuesday night until Wednesday noon.  The roads are terrible here in town as the salt they put on the roads doesn’t work at the below zero temps.  I don’t care as I have become immune to the snow and the below zero temperatures.  I figure it will even out in a month or two and by May we will be getting some 90 degree days.  By then the snow will have all melted from my car and I won’t have to clean it off again.

I called and changed my  doctor  appointment Wednesday till February 26th.  I am hoping the weather will have moderated some by then.  Last week I changed my hair appointment to the 11th and my hair is looking so awful that I will have to make that appointment if I have to crawl.

I finished my Lisa Jackson book yesterday.  I read 512 pages in just over 2 days.  Now I have to hunt for something else to read.  I may have to resort to the over 100 books I have stored on my Nook.  I really do prefer a real book even though I have a cover for my Nook and it is easy to hold.

I hope this week is a really good one for us all.  If you happen to encounter an older person that needs help with snow removal, please stop and help them.  You will get your rewards in heaven.  My mom always used to say that and I do believe that it is true.

Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth

Ham and Beans…

and the countdown to Spring continues at 57 days.  It is 10 degrees this morning with a wind chill below zero.  I about froze my patootie off just walking the few feet to the laundry room to start a load of clothes. 

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patootie  definition

interjection
  • interjection of disappointment.
  • buttocks.

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I love all of my blogging friends!  One blogging friend has been a delight  for me lately.  She is very interested in the differences between the United States and where she lives in Tasmania.  She is interested in our culture and the things that we eat.  Today she stated in her comment that she didn’t know what our ham and beans dish was.  Please stop by and say ‘hi’ to http://whiteangels-thoughts.blogspot.com/

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Below is the recipe I sent to my sister in law when she first married my brother a few years ago.  The recipe is from my blogspot recipe blog.

Ham and Beans

You will not believe this and I am still smiling. My new sis in law sent me an email asking me how to fix ham and beans. I thought everyone was born knowing how to do this. Maybe not, so here are the instructions I gave her.

1. Sort through beans and pick out rocks, etc. 
2. Rinse beans a couple of times.
3. Pour boiling water over the beans in the pan you are going to cook them in. Cover and let sit for half an hour.
4. Drain beans. Add 1 chopped onion. Cover with water but don’t drown the beans.  Add ham bone or bits of ham.
5. Bring to a boil, stir,cover,then turn heat down to simmer and cook till done. Approximately 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.  Remove the bone and put ham from bone back into the beans.
6. Season to taste. 

Now get busy and make some corn bread!!

You may use any kind of dried bean you like.  Yesterday I used dried baby lima beans and they were delicious  I usually use Jiffy Cornbread mix but I do have an easy recipe using corn meal.

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Have a wonderful day!  Stay safe and be happy!!

Beth