- Good food, good company, good advice from Grandma

A Mother’s Nightmare

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I got that call in the middle of the night that we all as mothers dread. My daughter’s father in law called to tell me that she had passed out, and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. I thanked him or calling and asked him to call me Ian’s soon as they heard anything from Thomas, my son-in-law.

The call was about an hour later. She has had a stroke, possibly caused by a blood clot from the Ceasarean surgery ten days ago when the baby was born. Fabgrandpa nd I got up and dressed and drove to Atlanta to be there with Thwhile to wait for the doctor to kelt us know what is going to happen next. We have been here for five hours now and still waiting.

If you pray, or send healing thoughts, or send good vibes, or whatever it is that you do, please do it for Emily and her family now.

I’ll update when I know more.

Finding A Plumber For Drain Cleaning!

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Parking RV in the back yard

When we bought our house last winter, we decided that we would live in the RV in the back yard until we could save up money to buy some furniture. It was a good thing we decided to do that, since we had to do some serious drain cleaning in the house. All of the sinks in the house were stopped up and slow draining, something we couldn’t check before we bought the house because the water wasn’t on.

The first thing we had to do was install the connections for the RV. We have a friend who is an electrician, and he came out and added a 30 amp electrical connection so we would have power. Next, we had a propane tank installed and hooked up the gas. The last thing we had to do was find a quality plumber to add an RV sewer connection to our septic tank.

Once everything was set up, we were able to live in the trailer until we went back to work in Arizona. Our plan was to save enough money over the summer to be able to buy the basic furniture we needed to get moved into the house. Even though our plans were not exactly carried out, we knew that even if we didn’t have enough money saved to buy furniture we could always live in the backyard again because we had that plumber come out and install that sewer line for us.

Since we got back here in October, we have had to have a plumber come out three more times. The first time he came, we had hi repair the shower. It had no water pressure, so there was not enough water coming out to take a good shower. The second time he came, the pipes under the kitchen sink had been leaking. He had to also replace the thing in the sink that connected the sink to the drain pipe. It was black with dirt that wouldn’t come off. The last time he came, he had to fix the outdoor water spigot. It was broken is such a way that it only leaked when it was turned on. I’m hoping that is the last time we have to see the plumber around here.

This is a sponsored post however, all the points and views are my own.

Deja Vu!

Karen · 3 Comments

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1996 me with michael — Here I am with my first grandson, Michael in October, 1996

When I got home from visiting Parker yesterday and looked at the pictures, it reminded me of when I saw my oldest grandson, Michael, for the first time in 1996. I was wearing a red shirt then, too. Boy has my hair turned gray in 16 years.

Welcome To The World, Parker Jackson

Karen · 5 Comments

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My daughter, Emily and her husband Thomas, welcomed little Parker Jackson into the world on January 31. He weighed 8 lbs 1 oz and was 19 inches long. He was delivered by C-section due to his mom having a condition called placenta previa, which could be life threatening to the mother if she had gone into labor. I have to say for being three weeks early, he was a pretty good size baby.

He scratched himself on the face on his first day in the world, so now he has to wear gloves or closed end sleeves to prevent it happening again. This scar is still there after a week!

Aw, he is such a sweetie pie, and smells so sweet. At least for now! The little fella is having a hard time eating, so he lost over half a pound in the hospital, but I’m sure he will catch on and start gaining soon.

Mommy had to take all his clothes off and get him uncomfortable before he would eat. I told her I can see it now, he’ll be three years old and can’t eat unless he’s naked! Seriously, he finally did take 2 ounces of milk while we were there. And then he spit up on Granny’s shirt while she was burping him. Burp!

He doesn't like getting changed — He doesn’t like getting changed

The only time he cried was while he was getting a diaper change. He did not like that AT ALL! He didn’t open his eyes enough to see what color they are. He looks a lot like his Mommy did when she was a baby.

“Mom!” Don’t take my picture! I look terrible”. No, you look like you just had a baby, and that, my dear, is beautiful.

Thrifty Thursday

Karen · 2 Comments

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I have been looking at lamps since we closed on the house in December 2011. Last week, we went to one of our favorite junk stores to get some DVD’s. They sell them three for ten dollars, so we go there every couple of weeks to get something new to watch. Of course, while we are there, we always look around to see what’s new in the shop.

Before I bought it, I asked the guy at the store if it worked. He took it over to one of the electric outlets and plugged it in, and nothing happened. He had to do a little work on it to get it to work, but who wants a lamp that doesn’t work? I don’t think I have ever seen a lamp like this before. It has a wrought iron stand, pole, and frame for the shade The shade is made of lace fabric, and can be removed and washed. It weights a ton, but is very sturdy. It would take a lot for someone to knock this thing over!

The guy at the store wanted $65 for it, but I asked if he would take $50, and he said yes. That is a very good price! If I could have found a new floor lamp that I liked, it would be a whole lot more than that. What do you think? Good deal? or a hunk of junk?

Decorating With Fabric: Tutorial

Karen · 10 Comments

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Today I wanted to make a frame of sorts for some photographs that I love. I have been wanting to put them up on my dining room wall, but I don’t have the funds to get them matted and framed. So, until the day when I do have the money, I decided to use fabric that I love as a backdrop for the photos. The first thing I did was iron the fabric to get all the wrinkles out.

Cut the fabric about two inches larger than your cardboard

I got a piece of cardboard that was several inches larger than the photograph. Then, I cut the fabric about two inches larger than the cardboard all the way around. I used straight pins to hold the fabric in place until I could put a piece of packing tape to hold it to the cardboard. You could also just use the straight pins without the tape.

Pin the fabric to the cardboard, then use packing tape

Once you have all four sides of the fabric in place, cut a piece of yarn or twine about two inches longer than the piece of cardboad is wide. Tie a knot in each end.

Cut a piece of yarn about two inches longer than your piece is wide

Put the end of a straight pin into the knot, then push it into one side of the cardboard. Do the same thing on the other side, measuring to make sure both ends of the yarn are the same distance from the top of the piece.

Measure to make sure both ends of the yarn are the same distance from the top

I used small, almost invisible straight pins to attach the photograph to the finished “frame”. You could also use double sided tape or a hot glue gun.

Use small straight pins to attach the photograph to the "frame" — Use small straight pins to attach the photograph to the “frame”

To hang my finished pieces, I used a straight pin that I pushed into the wall. The project is very lightweight so it doesn’t need a big nail to hang it.

My friend and co-worker at the Grand Canyon took this photograph of Aspens in autumn.

I love how my dining room wall turned out:

Manischewitz Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix Review

Karen · 1 Comment

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manischewitz chocolate cake

I have known for quite a while that Manischewitz has a lot of gluten free products in their line up, but I did not know that they had a Kosher cake mix! They sent me one to try last week.

The box contains a package of gluten free cake mix, a package of frosting mix, and a disposable aluminum baking pan. To make the cake, add two eggs and a half cup of vegetable oil, and mix with electric mixer for four minutes. Pour batter into greased pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Let the cake cool completely.

Add 1 tablespoon butter or margarine (Margarine if you want the cake to be Kosher) and 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Beat with electric mixer for four minutes. Spread on the cake.

This cake is very easy to make, and would travel well, so if you are gluten free and need a quick and easy dessert to take with you to a party or pot luck dinner, this is the one. It tastes good, too.

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I liked it with whipped cream on top, but that would not be Kosher, either. Overall, not a bad cake if you want something quick and easy to make.

Manischewitz 7th Annual Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off

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prod_SoupsAndMixes I am a bit late with this press release, but you still have until midnight tomorrow night to get your entry in for the 7th Annual Man-O-Manischewitz Cook Off. Here is the info about the contest:

Until February 4, 2013, enter the 7^th Annual Man-O-Manischewitz Cook-Off for a chance to win the $25,000 Grand Prize, which includes Maytag® appliances, cash, an expense paid trip and a beautiful crystal trophy! This year, the contest will be held at the Manischewitz® Manufacturing Plant and Headquarters in Newark, NJ, giving contestants and guests a peek inside their state-of the-art production facilities. The Cook-Off encourages at-home chefs to experiment with kosher products while preparing delicious recipes that could be a new family favorite, or one that has been shared for generations.

The entry deadline is Monday, February 4, 2013. To enter, log onto www.manischewitz.com, and click on the Cook-Off Banner to submit your recipe. The recipe must adhere to Kosher guidelines, be prepared in under an hour, have no more than 9 ingredients which must include one of the Manischewitz® All-Natural broth flavors-new Turkey, Chicken, Reduced Sodium Chicken, Beef and Vegetable, plus one additional Manischewitz® product. Four finalists will be chosen by the judging panel and five semi-finalists will be posted on www.manischewitz.com from February 21^st through February 28^th, allowing consumers to vote online to select the fifth finalist. For complete contest details, go to www.manischewitz.com.

So, hurry if you have a great recipe that to share! You can check the Manischewitz website to learn about what is Kosher if you are not familiar with that method of cooking. Go on! Get Cooking!