Almost Christmas!

At James

I stay up here while Jim is working.  Trying to get better.  No more being in Hospital. 

Coming Soon Sushi !

Supposed to happen Monday Night . Will take pic !

Bella

The blanket is coming along. Love ❤️ to crochet. 

Taking a break.  Although I am still crocheting   Tootles 

Roosters among the Wildflowers

This is a big window outside my kitchen. I do enjoy the chicks 🐥 but not so much the Roosters. 

I am looking up more about my family. From what I have read they came from Switzerland in 1737. Finding out what foods came from there. Till next time.    Tootles 

Apple 🍎 Trees

Look at our Apple's.  We are so excited.  I believe this is the 3rd year for them.  We have 3 apple trees. Right now cannot remember the names.

My Jim is into juicing so I know some will go in our juice which I  enjoy very much. He makes all kinds, vegetable and fruit and mixes them all together.  It does give me more energy and an all over feel good.  So glad we started this.  You don't need pills or some fancy diet.  Eat good healthy real food and you have it made.













Now in this picture you have two apples.  I believe my Jim said we have 10 apples.  Sounds good.

You can see a little of our yard.  How we managed to fit a pool in it is beyond me.  Lot's of trees.

Here is one of our cats, Thumper.  I know you can't see her as she is hiding.  Haha
She is one of 8 cats we have.  We have the Mama, Angelina and she had two liters.  Four in the first one and 5 in the second.  We gave two of the kitties to our Granddaughters.  Everyone of them were fixed as we do not want any more.

I do feel I am doing better.  Not that anyone could tell, just me.  I use the walker around the house and if I can touch a wall or a chair or a table, I can get around pretty good.  Well, I walked into the living room, had my hand on the back of a chair and took another step.  I had let go of the chair and realized I didn't have my walker and the next chair was at least 2 steps away BUT I still came this far without thinking about it.  That is how it starts.  It's when you  just get up and do something without thinking about it.  That's when you know your on the road to recovery  because you are getting better a little at a time.  So this has been a good, good day.   Tootles

Love this pattern

Good Morning.  I have been working on chakras.  That is reading more about them and paying attention to my bodies reaction.  I seem to be having a time typing smoothly.  You know I did have a couple cups of coffee maybe that is why.  I think I will cut back to one cup in morning then stop having any.  I made me a cup of earl gray and have been sipping that.

I think I will call it a day.  One  thing I am going to do is go go to this site I just found yesterday.
It is called  "Minimalist Baker".  Talk about great information.  Go there and check it out if you have not done so already.  I t even has a recipe to make your own Nutella AND this one is healthy for you.
Go have fun, search and find.  Tootles

Thinking about making one of these or maybe more than one

Stacking Books

As you can see, I am going through my Books. I have a place on Amazon where I sell them.

When I first started thinking about doing this, selling that is, I was totally against it.  I mean, I am a book lover and over the years, almost 50. I gathered a lot but what I realized was I had books that didn't really have a place in my heart and soul.  Those books I had a ton of.  So that is what I did.  I started several years ago.  Well actually I gave a bunch away.

For reasons I will not get into now (another day) I gave about 500 books to Salvation Army.  And yes, there were some of the books I wish I had not given away.  But I keep telling myself it is for the good.  I emptied a lot of shelves. In fact most of them were stacked around the house because I didn't have room  on a shelf.  What I regret is I gave away Cook Books. But again I'm just hoping someone out there is cooking up a storm from my old book.  Now, that would make me happy.   To be honest, I do not regret any of the other books.  I swear I had every kind of diet book known to man.  No regrets there.

Then I found out from exploring Amazon I could have sold them.  It's not that I want to get rich, like that is going to happen.  I just want to share  my books and get some shelf space.  But there are some books I will never part with.  You know the books that when you look up at your shelves and you see a spine with Title and Author and WOW,  it brings back a load of memories.  I love that.  I will do that and immediately I am in a different place, people around me feel so real and the smells, it is just WOW.  That's all I can say.

So to get back to the stacks of books, that is what I am going to do.  I always have fun doing that and when I sell a book it's always exciting to know someone will be happy to get their mail.  Tootles

Coming along

I do love to crochet and can hardly wait to finish this blanket for Jackson and the other blanket I have started. This blanket is my favorite.  I am so glad I started this as it is keeping me busy and my mind away from me. 

Also I am so happy to say I have been doing exercise when I take a break from crocheting. I am feeling really good right now. I know I am on the road to recovery. I can just feel it. Let me put this out there.    It will be a slow process and that is okay just as long as it keeps coming.  

So crochet on and keep a good attitude. Keep a smile on and just plain believe.   Tootles 

Crochet

I have two blankets going and the patterns are a little different. The little head and ear is Bella, my sweet puppy. I'm going to work on one each day or I might go ahead and finish one. I can not tell you how much I love crocheting. It is so soothing. 

I feel much better after spilling my guts yesterday. Maybe needed to do that. Sometimes we focus too much on ourselves and not on just living. 

So here is to living life to the fullest with a smile and Happy thoughts.  Tootles 

Good Morning

I'm still reading the chakra books and hoping for everything to go away.  I'm really beating my self up thinking I have brought this on myself.  I don't mean I wanted to have GBS and wished for it.  What I mean is the way I have reacted to circumstances in my life and this is what my body answered.  That is somewhat upsetting.  On one hand I'm excited to learn about my body and the chakras but on the other hand because it's not getting better I'm discouraged.

The picture above is kinda how I feel.  In a whirlwind of emotions, not really having any direction or plan of attack.  I've been dropped in the middle of a storm and can't see the end or how to take cover.  I'm the kind of person who needs a plan.  I'm looking for the directions,  the remedy,  the how to,  the here's what you do next.  But I'm not finding anything.  That is, anything to begin with, or start here.  I am getting a lot of information and I'm very happy about that but I can't seem to find where I'm at.  I don't know if I'm lost or found.  I just want some answers.  Everything seems so vague.  I keep trying different things but nothing has really made a difference.

It's funny three months after leaving the hospital my family took me to Disneyland here in CA ( the best and only Disneyland).  I was feeling great.  Everyday there was some kind of improvement.  I would say this syndrome has the best recovery ever.  It was because the improvements were everyday.  It was almost a joy to wake up everyday because I knew I would be improving somewhere on my body.  You couldn't help but feel joy and happiness.  BUT and this is a big BUT... about 3 weeks or so after we got back from Disneyland something changed.  My body felt different.  I was no longer improving.  Forget about the daily joy of recovery.  It was all mixed up.  My body felt like someone had smeared a potion over me to stop all improvement and go in a different direction.  My eyes were giving me problems and the worst thing of all I had completely lost my balance.  I'm not kidding, I had no balance  in anyway shape or form.  The bottom of my feet felt like I was walking on foam and not in a good way.  My balance had and is still gone.  It took an Elvis and left the building.  If I'm standing up right now and look up to the ceiling you can bet I will topple over unless I am hanging on to some thing.  I want no toppling of any kind.  I really do not want to think about MS. In the hospital they did say NO to that.  So that is what I am sticking with.  I will get over this.  I will start improving.  I want that daily recovery.  I want the wonderful feeling knowing things are improving and I can get back.

It's really awful being like this.  Having to depend on others for a lot of things.  Believe me I feel so bad having to ask for little things.  There is so much I want to do here at the house. My screened in porch is thick with dust.  There is no way anyone would sit out there now.  There is a place outside the porch that has become a catchall for trash.  I mean it's awful and embarrassing.  The other outside area's are a mess also.  A broom would make a big difference along with a lot of wet rags.  The yard if full of leaves, chicken feathers, odds and ends of trash and sticks.  It needs raking so bad.  THIS is all the jobs I would be doing.  I should be out there making everything look neat and homey.  We don't have fancy things nor do I want fancy but what we do have we need to keep neat and clean in order for it too look good.  Right now it looks trashy.  I can''t expect My Jim to do all of that.  That would not be fair. Believe me he has plenty to do and in a few weeks he will be working in the rice.  That means everyday until the rice is in.  We are talking 3 to 4 weeks.  It is necessary.  Being on a fixed income this extra money really helps.  This year we need a new roof before winter.  So that is what we are aiming for.  I got a little carried away here but do feel better.   Tootles

Our Day Trip

We do love our day trips and Wine Country is beautiful.

This rabbit is at Hall Winery. Reaching for the stars. 

This little Drive In is   "Gott's". They have the best hamburgers, garlic fries and the shakes are to die for. 
What a fun day. That's My Jim ordering our lunch at the window. There are tables in front with umbrellas and also in back. We had a lovely day driving through Wine County, looking around St. Helena, our stop for lunch at Gotts and our pleasant ride home.   

Getting in Balance

I've been doing a lot of reading.  In fact I pulled some books off my own shelves.  " The Creation of Health,"  by Caroline Myss. PH.D. and " Using Your Chakras, " by Ruth White.

What I have been reading is very interesting.  From what I understand our own emotions (although I believe it's much more then that) have a way of shutting certain parts of our body down.  That is where the Chakras come in play.  You know I have always been interested in the Chakras.  I've bought books about them but always felt a little confused.  Not really understanding just what they were about.  I did have a book by Deepok Chopra, who explained a lot (for the life of me cannot find it now).  I do believe we, ourselves have the capability to heal ourselves and keep our body and spirit happy and healthy.  It's really fascinating to discover the magic within our own bodies.  I plan on really getting into this subject and learning as much as I can about it and of course, I will pass along anything and everything I find interesting or helpful.

Wanted to share with you a paragraph from Ruth White's book, "Using your Chakras"...

     Sense
         Each of the first five chakras is associated with a sense, which also connects with the element, as we have seen.  The root is linked to smell;  the sacral to taste;  the solar plexus to sight;  the heart to touch;  the throat to hearing.  Now that is some fascinating information.

I am going to leave you with this bit of reason.  Who can't relate ?
I love chocolate.  So think about chocolate and the creamy sweetness as it savors on your tongue and I will be back with more interesting thoughts for us to think about  Tootles

Homemade French Bread

Love this bread and really love making it. 

Jackson's Blanket

Have a couple of rows done. I love my new crochet hooks. Makes it so much more comfortable to crochet. Tootles 

Out my Window

As you can see My Jim, feeds our kitties on the table. 
How about tat Rooster. Right below him, My Jim planted WildFlowers in a barrel. Just love it. 

All Set to crochet

I received my order from Amazon. New hooks,  spacers to mark the rows,  the large needles and a adorable pouch to put them in. Oh, can not forget the yarn. Blue and the trim is silver (not pictured). I will be getting started. So Excited !  The pattern is on the bottom.  I have several items to make but I do have until the middle of November.   Tootles 

Pretty Sporty

I wanted to put a better picture of my new wheels.  It really is very helpful in order for me to get around.   I have been looking up info. on MS and don't know for sure what is going on.  I do have some of those symptoms but  I guess I am not really ready to go there.  The last thing I want to do is go back to the Dr.. So let's just see what I can do myself.  Hey, let's face it I can do a lot on my own and that is what I intend to do.  So, no, I have not started the exercise program yet.  I know, I know that is what I need to do and I will.  I just wanted to write a little first.    I am very excited and happy to be doing this blog.  It's funny I have been writing this blog  for several years.  I have never had anyone follow it.  Some of the problem is I am not consistent and i tend to jump around.  Now I am  going to be adding something everyday.  I would like to connect with people who have GBS, MS or the many syndromes out there.  It's an autoimmune problem.  But I'm here to be positive and share  what I am doing about it.  Thank God I do have this blog.  Tootles                                                      

  

New wheels

How do you like my new wheels ?  I have a cup holder, basket (not in picture) and a bag that hangs on bar (not in picture).  Pretty cool uh ?  I was recovering well from GBS but something went sideways and it seems to be taking a different turn.
To be honest I'm a little scared but do not want to be negative so I'm keeping a positive spin on it.  I am getting around better with my little cart.  As long as I have something to put my hand on while I am walking I do fine.  Balance seems to be a major problem for me and I must do exercising everyday. Which I have to admit I am not doing.  That has to change as I do want to do everything I can to speed my recovery along.  I am able to get around in my house by myself.  The walker with wheels (in picture) helps me in the open spaces.  Now,  I can load up my cart with a cup of coffee or glass of ice water and put a plate of food on the seat and I am in business.  I am able to cook and make things in the kitchen.  I am the clean up girl (I'm 69, but like to call myself girl, it makes me smile).  By that I mean I unload the dishwasher and load it.  Keep counters, stove top, table clean and wiped off.  It makes me feel good to be in my kitchen.  It's always been a happy place and don't want that to change.  I plan on writing about what I have been doing in my life and how I am coping with recovering from Guillian Barre Syndrome.

I have ordered a new set of crochet hooks.  You see my oldest Granddaughter is expecting her second baby.  They say it's going to be a boy.  He's due in November.  She ask me if I would make the baby, who by the was is going to be named,  " Jackson Noel".  Well, I ask you, what could I say but Yes.
I ordered a new set that are ergonomic. Which should work just fine.  I will take a picture of hooks and my progress as I go along.  Talk to you soon, Tootles

Let us get started

Here we go.  I have changed the theme of my blog as I could not get into it to blog stuff.  I am learning but do wish I could take a course about being on my blog and how  to work with it.  I am planning on redoing everything.  I think I am not consistent enough and I need to decide what to do with it.  Maybe I need to have different information each day of the week.  I don't know for sure but right now I am going to do some research and see what I come up with.  I really want to do this so wish me luck.  Tootles

(Backup) Hex Signs

Hex signs. Pennsylvania Dutch. Very Interesting. 

(Backup) Morning Coffee

This is where I sit having my morning Coffee. 
And this is my view. Pretty cool, uh !  Especially since we have 8 cats 🐱 that go up and down the tree.  Of course, right now there are none around. 

If you notice the book on table we are juicing. Really enjoying it. Very good for you in so many ways.  Tootles 

Dining area in Kitchen

Mentioned the fire place but believe me right now we do not need it. 
With 107' temp. We are boiling. 

Here we are in July

I do love to decorate and finding unique items is a plus. The two blue chairs are very sturdy and strong and the rocker actually folds up. Years ago when Ladies would get together, especially for sewing, they would bring their own chair. Cool uh.  Tootles

My Lady

This is My Lady.  Now that I look at her dress,  I don't know what happened to it.  It really was a cute summer dress.  I'll just have to pick up another one.  I'm thinking about having her in my kitchen and dressing her up as a maid.  With an  apron.  Or what else could I do.  Hey, the wheels are turning now so we will see what develops.  Tootles

Kitchen Magic

Yes, I do love and use my cast iron pans. My Jim,  made these for me so I could hang them up. Much better to find and use.  Tootles

Hopefully Heatwave is Over

Good Morning !  This is my beautiful Lady.  I had her on my screened in porch and love to dress her up.  Well ?!  My Granddaughters had a fit.  I swear they went on and on about how creepy it was.  So I took it down.  Really I'm very sorry I did.  Now that I look at her I remember how much fun it was to do this.  Maybe I need to bring her back.  Ummmm

I'm still thinking about what to do and let's face it,"My Lady" is one of the things I loved to do.  So let's put her on the lists. I really like that idea.  I can't let my Granddaughters do that to me, I have to do what makes me happy and this is something I can do inside the house.  It's just not a good idea for me to go in the yard as it is so uneven but we do have a pool now so I will be getting in it.  More about the pool later.

Okay, Now I need to  get on the bike and go for a ride standing still.  Crazy uh ?  But this will be good for me and I need to do it.  Tootles

Yes, I'm still thinking.

This is where I am. I'm looking out my French Door staring at our pool in this 105' weather.  No relief in sight until Saturday or Sunday.  So I'm sitting in my house doing my thinking. I think Family History will win out for now. Like I said that will lead to something else.   Tootles   

I Need to Change Things

You know what I mean.  Right now I feel very restless.  Like I should be doing something But, I don't know what that is.  I keep trying to figure it out or find it and all I am doing is standing still.  I need something in my life that is going to excite me, make me feel alive.  No, wait a minute.  It's not that my life is so bad.  It  isn't at all.  You see I am recovering from an illness, which I have talked about here on my blog.  No, I'm not recovering as fast as I wish I was but it's coming along.  I mean let's face it, I'm not young.  I just turned 69 a few  months ago.  So that does make you lean back and say, Ummm.  Right ?  I'm walking with a cane and doing  pretty good most of the time and I know it will get better.  Okay, now that that's out of the way, we can start coming up with ideas about what to change.

As I look over my blog I see I have put a lot of pictures of meals, cakes, and a variety of breakfast, lunch, dinner and desserts.  Which was fun for me.  I do love to be in my kitchen even if I am just cleaning up.  I know I am weird.  Like the time (not too long ago) I was going to start making sour dough bread.  I did.  It was going great but the dish got moved in the refrigerator, the lid came off and there went my starter.  So I needed to start all over.  Well I was so discouraged I decided to take a break and I've been on that break for a while.

And while looking over my blog I see I have taken a lot of pictures of my home.  Different rooms, porches, our garden, and flowers.

Plus I had photo's of our trip to Disneyland.  Let me tell you that was so fun.  Always, Always have a great time at Disneyland.  The Happiest Place on Earth !

Okay,  the point is I need to change things around.  I want to focus on something and get excited about it.  I want that feeling, where you feel it in your tummy.  You know what I mean.  It's a feeling you get, that I haven't felt in a long time.  I just want something in my life.  Something I get excited over just thinking about it.  Something that will take over my mind and that's all I am thinking about. Coming up with new ideas and going in different directions. Trying new things.  Oh !!!!!!!.  I must put my thinking cap on as a Kindergarten teacher,  Mrs. Bechett, would say to her students and they   would put those caps on every time.  Invisible or not.  I worked with this lady one summer and still marvel at what an amazing teacher she was and grateful I had the chance to work with her.

Okay,  getting  back to what I was saying.  I do need something.  I am in the process of writing about my family history.  I was luck enough to have found it on the internet.  No kidding.  What I am doing is writing about the people I know in the family, what others have shared with me then writing about what the times were like during that period in time.  It starts is 1740, or around there.  They came from Switzerland.  I was always told they came from Ireland or the ile' of Man.  OOPS!  Let me tell you it's all very fascinating to me.  Hey, maybe that is what I will continue doing.  I do get excited about it all and what I discovered.  I'm a little surprised my kids, and grandkids aren't.  Don't get me wrong they thought it was cool but not the excitement and thrill I feel.  I think I just figured out what to do then maybe that will lead me on to something else.  Wish me luck.   Tootles

Six cats and two dogs

And My Jim cooking in the kitchen with friends. Yum !  

Cats, Dogs and Flowers