Winning...Sloane, Friends and Cinnamon Rolls

Good morning, friends...Just a (short post) today...lolol...  Not much has happened since I last spoke with you.  Ruth Ann is slowly improving but...she still isn't minding the doctor's advice about not driving for several more weeks!  She showed up here saying she wanted a cup of Larry's coffee from the Jura Machine.  Did I tell you...lolol...yeah, probably not, butt...A tree's roots gave way, from all the rain we've had lately, and fell on Ruth Ann's house.  The back corner...knocked out power.... broke the electric pole.  Then her well-meaning neighbor came with his electrician ( I hesitate to call him that since no one produced a license...) to try and get her power back on...somehow breaking a water line???

Long story short, the "well-meaning" neighbor charged Ruth Ann $2200.00 and demanded his money that evening, after the work was done (no prior estimate given).  She got pissed, as you can imagine, drove to her bank... (not supposed to be driving) got a loan for it...called the neighbor to "damn-well" come get it.  He didn't want to produce an invoice but had to (handwritten on a piece of typing paper) in order for Ruth to get the loan.  He demanded cash...yeah...but the lady at the bank told Ruth that a Cashier's check would ruin his day because, all his information would be on the check and the IRS would be notified of the transaction...lol...Made me smile.  The guy supposedly has a construction business.  I don't think it's reputable.  He's sort of creepy, to me.  Cartel?  Who knows.  He owns a bunch of fancy stuff, but we never see him working...? Anyway, he has this huge fancy house...trucks...backhoes...and a sketchy workforce. I tried to tell Ruth Ann not to call on him for help but...she's thinking she'd get the "neighbors" discount...right.

Now she no longer wants to have anything to do with him (he got into her pocketbook) so the war is on.  This is what can happen if you use people you know, and something happens...just don't do it if you want to remain friends.

I'm staying OUT of it...

Meanwhile...back in my normal world, our grandson, William (in the Air Force stationed in Arkansas), Joined a 5K run and they won!  He's the one on the left side end in the red sweatshirt.  He thinks he'll stay in the AF.  He loves his new airbase and the people there.

William (R) and one of his new friends enjoying life...Lordy, we love this boychild...<3

Cousins Sloane and Arlis...That's Arlis' dad.  Country babies...

Always learning something new...

My purple roses are blooming...the bush is full of buds.

Isn't this a cute idea?  My daughter, Crystal had this made for Sloane out of a night suit that she no longer was able to wear.  A friend at her job made it. Too cute!

In case any of you have people following your blog that you'd "rather they didn't"...here's how you fix things.  I had one blogger that decided they'd like to constantly say rude and ugly things that finding a solution was a must!  It took a lot of searching but I finally figured it out.  This works on any blog...commercial or not. If they "follow" your blog...you can dump them, permanently!

Thursday, we got to enjoy a meet-up with my Blogger Buddy, Linda and Louis Dean Chapman from Irving, Texas!  They have a little place located in a nearby town that they call, The Ranch.  Well, since we live so close, we decided the best thing to do was to have a meet-up.  And we did!  Talk about a sweet couple!  We laughed the whole time...ate some good food and promised to get together again, real soon.  What a blessed day... 

My plate...yes, I gained a pound...again!  But it was worth it.  How often do you get to make new friends and have a good lunch?

Me and my hubby, Larry.  

Ann  has sent another beautiful card!  This one is absolutely gorgeous!  I better get my butt settled long enough to get one back to her!  It's a 3D kind of card with different layers...it's so pretty!

Thank you, Ann!!  I love it! 

And yes...I'm bad.  I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, this morning.  Bad Donna!!!  I only had one...with hot coffee...it was so good... I guess I'll need to add about 3,000 steps to my walk, today.  Bad Donna   ; o)

Well, I guess that's about it for me this morning.  Hope you all are enjoying warm or cool breezes...a hot or cold beverage and are safe from harm.

ALSO...I found 5 comments in my Spam folder!  You might want to check your's...

So... until next time...

Apple Fritters...Chicken, Catfish and Hugs

 

Good morning, Friends.  Just checking in.  It's really not been a very busy week...again.  But believe me, I'm not complaining!  Less is more.  

We had a sweet visit with our good friends, Bill & Wanda Coker.  They live in a small town, Medina, Texas...near San Antonio in an over 55 community.  They love it...live in a tiny house...which they are expanding...lol

We all went to high school together in the '60s.

I made apple fritters to enjoy with coffee, while we visited.

We told lies...laughed...and talked about old school memories.

Earlier in the week, Larry fried up some catfish filets.  I made a salad to go with it.

Our Greatgran, Sloane lining her babies up and teaching them how to be sweet babies...lol

Taking a break from a grueling morning of teaching...

But she always makes time for her Gamma.  I love her so much...

Well, I did say it had been another slow week.  Other than cooking...running errands in town, it's been slow.

I hope you all are doing great...keeping warm or cool, wherever you are.  So...until next time...

Hello May...Stormy Weather...The King

Good Morning friends...What a week!

May rolled in with a vengeance, knocking over a tree from our neighbors yard, behind us, landing onto our fence.  It happened sometime in the night (worse time!).  We get up early in the mornings...so, when I went out with our Libby to potty, (I don't have to but she likes it when I do...), I noticed something out of the ordinary, laying in out yard.  Libby saw it the same time I did and started growling.  It was still dark so I shined my flashlight towards the left side of our fence and saw this... 

I just stood there...wondering "what the hell??"

Went inside and told Larry to come see...He did but, we got a better look after daylight.

"He was not amused..."

(See how I did that?  On Coronation Week? lol)

Anyway...our neighbor to the left of us got involved and found out, since it came from the backside neighbor's yard, they were paying for the damages to our fence.  They knew they had gone too long in trimming the tree back.

Yes...we watched the whole thing.  This is my favorite photo of them.  I've always been a bit of an anglophile.  I remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding so long ago.  She would have been a wonderful Queen...but, that's over and Charles is happy with his true love.  I'm all in for true love...

Our Libby being ever vigilant, inspecting Larry's new grill.  Grills are his weakness.  Seems he buys one every six months!  Not really, but it seems so...I don't say a word though.  He's worked hard for years and if we can afford it, why not!  Besides...his grilling skills are amazing.

I made Banana Nut Bread....Larry's favorite.

A silly photo of our precious Sloane that either her mom Samantha created or her grandma Lollie made...either way, Sloane also, "Was not amused!" lolol

I needed to make some more brown sugar...I'd run out.  I refuse to buy it at the store!  Getting high in price so...I bought instead, Grandma's Molasses and made my own (use any brand you want).  So much better tasting than store bought!  It's just white granulated sugar and molasses.  Put sugar in mixing bowl, add molasses until it's as dark as you want it.  That's it!

Truth! lolol

On our weekly outing, we stopped in at our favorite restaurant, Cappuccino's.  A Triumph was sitting out front.  It's been years since we'd seen one.  It was one of the registered few.  Larry was drooling! lolol 

Larry ordered a pecan pancake and I ordered the strawberry crepe...yummy!

This wasn't Me!!lolol

That's about all from me this week.  Hope you all are happy and well, so until next time...

Paris-Brest pastry...Butter cream Flowers and...

Paris-Brest

This pastry took me out of my comfort zone.  It's almost like a creme' puff but yet, you know it's not.  Delicious but from now on, I think I'll let the bakery create one for me!  A bit too much work involved.

Then there's the buttercream flowers I made for a small cake which...I decided I didn't like the crumb of the cake well enough to bother decorating it with my not so wonderful flowers...I'm still learning as you can see from the chunky ones to the thinner more flower-like petals.  Trust me, it ain't easy!

Then there was the No-Carb fried chicken...now it was good!  Just use fried pork rinds whizzed up in the food processor, for best results.

Marinade the chicken pieces in buttermilk for at least an hour...

OH!!  Just letting you know...IF you own any Magna Lite or other brand of aluminum cookware, if it's horrible looking, thick with burned on grease, just take the handle off... pop it into your self cleaning oven...do a medium clean...after about five hours your pan will be CLEAN!!!  See mine with the frying chicken?  It was HORRIBLE!  I figured if it'll clean cookie sheet pans (not those fancy flat "air bake" ones...only because I haven't tried cleaning those yet...).  I just experimented on my fry pan and found out it worked!

You do You!  This is just what I did...I was so disgusted with it I almost threw out my 50 year old Magna Lite pan!! (Southern women everywhere are hanging their heads in shame about now!)

Then roll in flour mixed with several tablespoons of cornstarch and seasonings...dip in buttermilk marinade...then in the flour...then in lard or vegetable oil.

And lastly, Hot Chocolate cookies.  Pretty good but not sweet enough..."something enough".

Once I decide the recipe isn't absolutely wonderful, in the trash it goes.

Well, that's it for me...Hope you all are keeping safe, able to afford these ridiculous gas and food...utility prices!!!  I am counting the days until November!  Voter card at the ready!!

We are also waiting for our granddaughter to have her baby this month...Hopefully on the 9th...my birthday.  The Ultrasound tech says the 9th...the doctor says the 15th.

Enjoy your week and I'll be checking on you soon.