Trying to catch up a bit

It is a good thing to look through last year's photos. I completely forgot about this Autumn Greetings sign I have in the shed (purchased at a garage sale a few years ago)! I think I'm strong enough to walk out to the shed and retrieve it! I think my husband was hoping I'd forgotten it completely.

My dear friend in New Mexico called me this evening, one who also struggles from time to time with the affects of a chronic illness. She was chuckling (with the understanding that comes from one who walks the same path) when I told her I was even happy to be washing dishes again.

I was able to prop my feet up, adjust my reading glasses, and peruse the two Amish cooking "brochures" I purchased in Pennsylvania. I'm not quite strong enough to make the recipes yet, but I'll be ready soon.

Before my sudden illness, I was going to respond to a few comments. I'll need to go back and read through them again but I can answer a few questions.

The large glass jars with the red lids pictured last week are from Target. I purchased them with a lovely surprise of a gift card (one for unbleached all purpose flour and one for the unbleached bread flour I use with my ground wheat for breads). We had an unusually damp summer and these two jars were well worth the investment, they kept the flour dry and the bugs out! They are also larger than the average flour container, which is quite good for someone who spends a lot of time cooking.

Most of the time I make my bread on the dough cycle in the bread machine and then finish it by hand and bake it in the oven. If I'm making more than one loaf (or something special), I can make bread easily in my Precious (which was a combined anniversary, birthday, Christmas, etc. present from my husband when we lived in Detroit) :)

The apples in the silver bowl are one of my favorite "country combined with elegance" centerpieces. The silver bowl came from Goodwill many years ago. The bigger apples were purchased for a dime at a church garage sale. The little crab apples (which I think make it so realistic) were a quarter each from my favorite primitive country store Downtown. Overall, just a few dollars for such beauty. I'll fill the bowl with pretty Christmas tree balls after Thanksgiving.

Stephanie and I often talk about the enjoyment that comes from using items in unexpected ways. I gave her my other Goodwill silver bowl (with the prettiest green enamel "inside") so she can use it at Christmas. She's actually much better than I am at such things... perhaps because she has a trained eye with a BA in Interior Design? I'd prefer to think that rather than that she's just smarter and more creative.

I hope you are enjoying the new opening song on my Play List. It is one that may be familiar to those of you who have been with me awhile since it is a song I had from a former source (hmmm... last year?).

I also wanted to let you know I'm a little behind on e-mails again. However, if you ever e-mail me and you don't get a response, it is most likely that your e-mail ended up in my Junk Mail. I used to take a chance and open up those that look safe (and many were!) but since having that bout of 89 viruses a few weeks ago and having to take so many hours (days) to re-install my Kodak software... I'm not taking any changes!

So, if you don't hear from me, e-mail me again and put something about Coffee Tea Books & Me in the subject line... only not in Chinese characters. :)

As you can tell, I'm feeling better. Still a little weak and woozy and I have to be careful about getting off the sofa too fast but otherwise, I'm well on the road to recovery! Thank you so much for your prayers and your comments. I am blessed.