Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Squirrel-proof bird feeders. Since we’ve had bird feeders, we’ve had a squirrel or two come by and nibble a bit, and I had no problem with that. But this year we’ve had at least three who can empty the feeders out in a day. That gets a bit expensive. I found one squirrel-proof feeder in Wal-Mart, another on Amazon. They’re not entirely squirrel-proof, but they do slow them down a lot, and they don’t come around as often, leaving more for the birds.

2. Grilled ham. Hadn’t had it in ages, and it was so good. I didn’t take any pictures: just imagine pink ham with grill stripes. 🙂

Marinated Ham Steak

1/2 cup apple juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon margarine, melted
1 to 2 teaspoons mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1 ham steak

Combine first six ingredients and pour into a resealable plastic bag. Cut ham steaks in half or in smaller pieces and add to bag; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate at least two hours, turning occasionally.

Drain marinade and grill ham, uncovered, over medium heat. If the ham is fully cooked beforehand, grill only 3-4 minutes on each side; if the ham is raw, plan on 10-15 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 140-160 degrees.

The original recipe called for pineapple juice, which we didn’t have on hand the first time I made it, so I used apple juice and liked it well enough that I’ve stuck with it ever since. It made for a nice Sunday-after-church meal because we put it in the marinade in the fridge before church, and then it didn’t take long at all to grill afterward.

3. VBS week. Our Vacation Bible School coordinator has been sending emails out every evening with a short summary of how the night went plus some photos. Everyone’s done a great job with decorating and planning and such and it seems the kids are really enjoying and benefiting from it.

4. An uneventful dental visit. Seeing the dentist is never my favorite thing to do, but my visit Thursday went relatively smoothly. Since my last dental cleaning resulted in having to have a tooth pulled and a bridge put in, I was very glad there were no surprises this time.

5. This, seen at Reading to Know:

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Jim’s mom’s birthday was last Thursday, but we celebrated Friday since everyone had off then for the 4th of July. It was fairly low-key as she doesn’t have the endurance for a long, involved celebration, but I think it was enough to make for a special time for her: some flowers, a balloon, a new nightgown, several cards, a cupcake for blowing out candles but then a cream cheese/pudding/whipped topping dessert that she could eat for her birthday treat.

Of course, a visit from her favorite little guy always brightens her day:

2. Neighborhood cookout and pot luck for the 4th. One neighbor cooked some amazing ribs in a smoker, and everyone else brought side dishes and desserts. Good food and a good time to touch base with the neighbors.

3. Broccoli salad. I knew people would be bringing potato salad and baked beans to the cookout, and I wanted to bring something different so as not to have too much of the other stuff. We had a broccoli salad that we liked years ago at a banquet, so I searched a number of recipes. I ended up combining this one and this one, using fresh broccoli, bacon, red onion, sunflower kernels, shredded cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, and sugar. Loved it except that it was way too sweet. If I make it again I’ll reduce the sugar a great deal. Unfortunately, even though it sounds light and summery, it’s over 500 calories a serving, so I think next time I’ll also try lighter versions of some of the ingredients.

4. Rain. Usually rain doesn’t make my list, especially two weeks in a row. But as I mentioned yesterday, we have some dry, dying trees and had some unsafe fireworks usage in the neighborhood, so I was really glad everything was soaked from rain that day and most of the week before.

5. Puttering. A small sewing task for my husband led to some straightening, cleaning out, and organizing in the sewing room. It’s nice to have a week with relatively few obligations so one can meander off at will into tasks that there’s often not time for.

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Lunch out at Cheddar’s. Most of you know we usually have to bring take-out in rather than going out because we can’t leave my mother-in-law home alone. But last Saturday morning Jim and I were out while her morning caregiver was here, and it was lunch time and we were near Cheddar’s, so he suggested we go there. Jason, Mittu, and Timothy were with us and Jesse joined us. That’s one of my favorite places, and we usually only go there once a year for my birthday, so it was a treat in many ways.

2. Cooler temperatures. It was overcast the first part of the week and rainy the latter part, providing a welcome break from the summer heat. The rain has been watering my plants for me as well.

3. Hershey’s miniatures. Chocolate sweetness in small portions. 🙂

4. Jim’s mom’s 87th birthday was Thursday, but we’re celebrating Friday when everyone’s off for the Fourth – Jason and Jesse work different shifts, making it hard to do things on week nights.

5. Friday off. With Independence Day falling on a Saturday this year, everyone has Friday off. Love 3-day weekends.

Happy Friday, and Happy 4th of July!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Surprise breakfast. Jason and Mittu had surprised us on Mother’s Day with breakfast and wanted to do the same for Father’s Day. Only this time they brought it on Saturday, for a number of reasons: so it would be even more unexpected; because they got Chick-Fil-A biscuits, and that restaurant is closed on Sundays; and so that the time would be more relaxed and open-ended. Besides the biscuits and some sausage links, Mittu also made these pineapple-upside-down muffins/cupcakes:

2. Father’s Day: Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to the computer on Father’s Day weekend to make a post for that day, but I do enjoy the time of celebrating and appreciating the fathers in my life, including my father and father-in-law in heaven, my stepfather, my husband, and my middle son. It was fun, too, to see the tributes and photos friends posted on Facebook that day.

3. Wednesdays. I mentioned that we had started hospice care for my m-i-l, and the first couple of weeks involved having a host of people coming by. I admit I was getting a little frustrated tending the (seemingly) revolving door and not being able to get anything else done or even think straight some days. But it looks like things are settling into a routine now, and it looks like Wednesday will be the day no one comes (besides weekends. They don’t come then unless something comes up). It felt so blissful this last Wednesday. I do appreciate their services, but it is nice to have a day with no visitors.

4. Different colored hydrangea blooms. I had mentioned before that my hydrangea bush is finally blossoming well this year, and I was delighted to find both blue and lavender flowers on it recently.

5. Air conditioning. It’s that time of year when a trip to Wal-Mart or 15 minutes outside watering plants leaves me drenched in sweat. It’s so nice to come into coolness at those times – and to stay in it most days. 🙂

What are some favorite parts of your week? If you’d like to fellowship with some other bloggers counting their blessings, join us at Susanne‘s.

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on June 19, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Meeting with hospice. I mentioned earlier this week that we had met with a hospice provider for Jim’s mom just to see what services they provided. Previously we thought you didn’t call them in until death was imminent, and Jim’s mom is in good health except for losing her ability to move, so she might live years yet. But they offer nursing and a number of other services that will be helpful in her final years. We’re especially thankful that we have access to a nurse that will come to the house and that they’ll call in her prescriptions so we don’t have to bundle her up and take her to the doctor’s office or call his office multiple times to get refills taken care of. It’s been a whirlwind this week with all the people they have (nurse, bath aide, social worker, chaplain) coming to visit, but hopefully things will settle down into a routine soon. Plus Medicare pays for it and even pays for some things that we had been paying for out of pocket, so that should help her funds last a little longer.

2. Lettuce. Our neighbor brought by some lettuce and kale from his garden. I think the two varieties of lettuce were romaine and buttercrunch. So we’ve been having salads all week with dinner. I was impressed that Jesse said he actually liked these salads, where before he had just tolerated them. I don’t know if it is due to these different varieties or due to the freshness – probably both. I’ve never had kale before and have tried to make kale chips, but they haven’t turned out well so far (overcooked and overseasoned the first time, though I followed a recipe online). If you have any good kale recipes, let me know! I haven’t tried it in a salad – it seems a little strong for that.

3. Lactose-free ice cream. I’ve been lactose-intolerant for about 17 years. (I’ve never quite understood why you can eat or use something all your life and then suddenly develop problems, but around the same time I developed a lactose intolerance and allergies to penicillin and sulfa). I take Lactaid tablets with some dairy foods, but ice cream and straight milk always caused the worst reactions, so I have avoided them even with Lactaid. But a few days ago I discovered a lactose-free ice cream:

It’s good, but I’ve found I don’t really crave it like I thought I might after so long. it’s nice to have the option now anyway.

4. Reminiscing about Elisabeth Elliot. After reading that Elisabeth Elliot passed away this week, a lot of posts have popped up about her life and influence. One of my favorites was Do the next thing, one of her sayings. Her influence on me was very similar to this author’s.

5. More reading time. We don’t follow all that many TV shows, but most of them are off for the summer, so I’ve had more time to read in the evenings.

And a bonus: I posted this Sunday but wanted to again here. This is actually one of my daughter-in-law’s photos from several weeks ago and is one of my favorites. Love his smile!

Hope you’ve had a good week as well!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on June 11, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends. Here are some favorite parts of the last week:

1. Friends and costumes. Jesse and some friends dressed up for a Fanboy Expo, where there are lots of guests usually from sci-fi shows or comic books. Last year Jesse and friends just attended: this year they dressed up as Batman villains – and won the first prize for group costumes! They won $100 and used it to go out to eat afterward. They had a lot of fun getting their costumes together. “Catwoman” found her boots at a thrift store for $4!

Jesse is the Riddler, in the back with a green mask on.

2. Pools and Popsicles. We had set up the kiddie pool for Timothy once before when it was still a little too cool. We tried it again last Saturday and it was much better. He seemed to enjoy it. It also seemed a perfect time to try a popsicle. He hadn’t had anything with that much concentrated sugar before, so he screwed up his face at first, but then he liked it after a while.

3. Baby rabbit. There are some wild rabbits that visit our back yard to eat whatever is in the grass (clover?) that they like. We like to watch them: it’s almost like having pets without having to actually take care of them. 🙂 This week we saw a baby rabbit out there alone. It went away before I thought to try to get a photo. So cute!

4. A new phone cover. I like the rubber ones – I can’t hold on to them better – but my last one was so stretched out the phone sometimes fell out of it. Love this one:

5. Grandbaby antics. I could probably list this every week. 🙂 He’s at such a fun age, learning, exploring, figuring things out, babbling.

Happy Frifay!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

Here are five favorite parts of the past week:

1. Flowers and bushes. This past Saturday my husband and I finally had time to go shopping for hanging baskets, flowers for the front planters, and a couple of bushes we needed to replace, then we got them planted that afternoon. They do brighten up the view. 🙂 One bush was a camellia – I have always wanted one but haven’t seen them for sale before. Plus I noticed my hydrangea that we planted a few years ago is finally blooming well: last year it only had a couple of blossoms.

2. Ribs. My husband had to eat dinner with some people he works with one night, and ordered a whole rack of ribs so he would have some left over to bring to me. 🙂

3. A good report at the eye doctor for Timothy. Preemies can develop certain eye problems, so his parents have to take him for occasional appointments to an eye doctor. His appointment this week showed no problems at all: the doctor said he wouldn’t have known he was a preemie except that it was in his chart.

4. Great-grandma feeling better. She was having some trouble last week – just seemed generally low, had some trouble eating, and her heart rate was higher than usual. We couldn’t get in to see the doctor til this week, and by then she was pretty much back to normal, but everything seems to be as ok as it can be for an 86 year old bedridden woman.

5. A sign on a tree. When we were plant shopping, we saw a sign on one little tree that it wasn’t for sale because a nest with baby birds was in it. I’m not one who feels people can’t build because of wildlife or birds in the area, but in this case, I thought it was sweet that the store would hold on to that tree until the babies are out.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

It’s been another week of simple blessings. Here are a few:

1. A three-day weekend. More time to get things done, spend with family, and eat grilled burgers. 🙂 And to be thankful, in this case, for the men and women who sacrificed so the rest of us could have a “normal” life.

2. Getting home moments before a storm. Always nice to be inside when there is a storm out, but that “just made it” feeling is a nice one.

3. Baby laughs – his own and the ones he causes. There is just a special feeling of…accomplishment, I guess, when making a baby smile or laugh. And he’s always been cute (biased grandmother’s opinion, of course), but he’s full of such antics now. Lately when his parents give him a “pretend” drink of their coffee (just holding the cup to his lips – he wants that even though he’s not getting anything), when he’s done, he’ll say, “Ahh!”

4. A simple prescription refill. It would be too long and boring to go into details, but I needed a prescription refill that I thought either the doctor, pharmacy, or insurance company were going to give me problems about because I had finished it before the prescribed time (they have done so before. It’s an ointment, not a pill, so hard to make the dosage last the prescribed time). The doctor wanted me to come in rather than refilling it over the phone, but everything else went as smoothly as it possible could on all fronts. Sometimes we can build up potential problems in our minds before we even start.

5. A baby gorilla. On our zoo trip a few weeks ago, two of the gorillas were expecting. One just had her baby this week. Cute!

Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

I almost didn’t do a FFF today. It hasn’t been a bad week, but most the things I could think of to share are things I’ve already shared before, so I didn’t think it would be all that interesting to readers. But of course we’re to be thankful for all things, not just the first time we experience them. 🙂 So here goes:

1. Icy Hot patches and spray. I’ve had some back issues this week, and the patches help immensely. The spray doesn’t work quite as well, but it does help those areas I can’t reach or coordinate getting a patch to.

2. Dinner prepared by my daughter-in-law. I not only enjoy being “off” from kitchen duty sometimes, but I also enjoy not having to think about what to make. I’ve been in a rut this week, tired of the “same old stuff” yet not inspired enough to look up something new. 🙂

3. Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats with melted chocolate chips on top. It hit me today that I hadn’t had these in a while, and they sounded so good – thankfully I thought of them before a trip to the store, so I was able to get the ingredients! On a side note, this is the only thing I use Rice Krispies for – we’re not into cereal much. I wish they’d make a small box just big enough for a pan of these treats.

I only made a half recipe so as to have not too much temptation on hand. 🙂

4. A desk chair I can nap in. When I chose this office chair, I specifically chose one that reclined and had a back tall enough to support my head so I could lean back and take a quick power nap sometimes. My sleep patterns have been wacky this week and those naps have been very needed.

5. Our first megawatt of power. My husband had solar panels installed on our house several weeks ago, and our power company adjusts our power bill according to how much we’ve used and how much we’ve generated. This month our power bill was $26 and change! Nice! Of course, the savings for now are going to pay for the system, but once that breaks even, it will be very nice indeed.

We haven’t reached summertime temperatures yet, but it has been warm enough to get hot and sweaty. Thursday was overcast and delightfully cool, especially when a breeze picked up. I know in a couple of weeks we’ll be out of cool days until fall, so I am treasuring them up.

Hope you’ve had a great week as well! Happy Friday!

Friday’s Fave Five

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Barbara Harper

It’s Friday, time to look back over the blessings of the week with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and other friends.

This week has definitely had its challenges. But it’s had its bright spots, too. Here are a few of the latter:

1. Surprise Mother’s Day breakfast. My son and daughter-in-law surprised me Mother’s Day morning by showing up early to make breakfast for us. They made biscuits and gravy and some really cute fruit cups and Jim made scrambled eggs.

2. Mother’s Day as a whole. My family always makes it a special day for me. Besides the aforementioned breakfast, Jim grilled burgers for lunch, we Face-timed with my oldest son, and they got me flowers and a few very nice gifts.

3. Baby Cuddles. Now that Timothy has gotten mobile, he’s usually more interested in playing or exploring than sitting and cuddling. But while everyone else was making breakfast, I think he wasn’t quite awake yet, and he was content to lean against me and play with the buttons on my housecoat for a while.

4. Ruby Tuesday’s Smoky Mountain Chicken. Jim had to be out of town one night, which meant I had great-grandma’s full care, and Jason and Mittu offered to pick up dinner to help out.

5. A tooth problem averted. For a few days the gum under the bridge I just had put in a few weeks ago was swollen and painful. The bridge experience wiped our our dental benefits for the rest of the year, so I was really hoping this wasn’t going to develop into a major problem (well, the pain and discomfort of another potential procedure were concerns, too!) Thankfully it went away – I guess something had just irritated it for a bit.

Happy Friday!