Sunshine and Feeling Better......

Sunshine, this morning, what a welcome sight to see, even if it only lasted a few hours!! I hope all of you got to enjoy some sunshine also! The sun really brightened my day!!

I saw the Dr. yesterday, she said all of my vital signs were good and gave a new prescription for the Extended Release Metformin to see if I could tolerate it any better. I told her I hadn't taken any Metformin for 5 days and felt better than I had in a long while. She told me I could try going without it for a couple of weeks as long as my sugar readings stayed good, if not, back on the meds.. I will try and hope for the best!!

I started back on my project of scanning all of the family photos onto my computer.I've done about 200 so far, had to take a break but now I'm back at it. I've got pictures of one of my great-grandmothers, 6 generations back, it was taken in the 1850's. I have quite a few from the 1800's. A lot of memories go with all of these pictures. I plan on putting them on DVD's then passing the pictures onto my cousin. I am the only one left of my immediate family, she can pass them onto to her kids.

I have a lot of ideas for sewing and craft projects, I just need to get busy and get them started. I hope to try and set up at the Farmers Market this year. I bought some batteries for my camera the other day. I'm not sure what is wrong with it but it will only let me take a few pictures and then quits until I replace the batteries. I can't afford another camera so I guess I will have to keep a supply of batteries on hand. I will take some pictures as I get things done. I do have one I can post now, it is a teddy bear I made for Kevin for Valentine's Day:



I better get back to scanning, I'd like to finish a few more tonight and I owe a dear friend an email.

Take care,

Hugs and Blessings, my friends

Panic/Anxiety Attacks, Snow & Stress......

has been keeping me occupied the last 2 months. I can't believe it has been that long since I last posted. I wish I could say "time flies when you're having fun" but it hasn't been fun at all. My panic & anxiety attacks started again. It has been a long time since I've had any really bad attacks, fortunately these weren't as bad as some that I had that ended in a trip to the ER. I'm still not sure what the trigger was this time or if it was a combination of things. I think being snowed in, fluctuations in my sugar and a few other things thrown into the mix was the cause. I eventually was able to get out of here and to the Dr. and she changed my meds. which has helped some. I'm still anxious about things but I'm forcing myself to deal with it.

I got off track with watching my sugar intake over the holidays and am still having a rough time getting back on the diet! I'm working on that too. I can't leave out all the pain from the arthritis and fibromyalgia that has had me on edge and been almost more than I can stand at times. I have a high tolerance for pain too, I can take a lot but even I have my limits.

OK enough of my complaining about everything that ails me!! LOL

I hope all of you have been okay and survived all of the snow and ice and cold! I've stopped by off and on to check out some of your blogs and have enjoyed reading about everything you have been doing.

We've been moving things around in the apartment , our computers used to be in the living room. We have a spare bedroom that has/had LOL 8'x12'of space. We split the space so we each have a 6'x12' area. Kevin's is all computer "stuff" mine is divided between my computer & printer plus my sewing machine table and cutting/work table,etc., which is doing double duty as my computer desk too. I call it all "organized clutter". I have the use of the whole closet too, it has all of my fabric, trims etc. in it so they are handy. I will post some pictures of the room after I straighten it up a little.....if I can get the camera to work. The camera keeps losing power even with new batteries.

I hope to start spending more time here. I always feel more at peace after I've posted.

Hugs and Blessings, my friends
Brenda

Yes, I've been MIA again......

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

Don't you just hate it when real life gets in the way of your computer time???? I sure do!!! LOL...but now.....All of the Christmas decorations are packed away, cleaning is done and things are back to normal!!

I'm trying to get back into a normal routine again too. The diabetic diet is getting easier to follow. My numbers are good and I've lost 16#'s in 2 months. I'll be happy now to just keep things going like this.

I just wanted to pop in for a few minutes to catch up. I will post more tomorrow.

Hugs and Blessings my friends,

Merry Christmas!!!

I just wanted to wish all of you a very

"Merry and Blessed Christmas"!

I hope you are all well, we are doing ok. We were both using my netbook until today and Kevin's new computer came, so now I have mine back and can get back to posting on a regular basis. The last month has been rough for a lot of reasons. I'll talk more about that later.

I hope the font on here gets straightened out, I don't know what is wrong. I may just change the complete background tomorrow.

Love and hugs and many Blessings to you all,

Brenda

Diabetic Roller Coaster

I know now why I've been so tired and thirsty for the last couple of months....my sugar is on the high side. I've had trouble since the 1970's when I had low blood sugar. I had to keep candy or O.J. close at hand. I had readings as low as 60, at 50 you can go into a diabetic coma. I got that straightened out after a few years.

I didn't give a thought to the chance it could be my sugar causing me trouble this time. I checked it every morning and it was pretty well normal for a long time. Lately it has been getting a little higher than it had been, but I just thought it was because I was only sleeping 2 hours at a time and up for about an hour in between. It was 250 one day last week when I checked it. I took the meds the Dr. gave me (6 months ago :<( ) for a couple of days, but it didn't help so I called the Dr., told them what was going on and had an appt. 2 hours later. I now take 2 pills a day and write down every bite that passes my lips. My sugar is down now, closer to where it should be. I go back to the Dr. the day before Thanksgiving, if it's not staying where it should be she is going to add Junuvia, to the Glucophage I'm taking now. I had a real wake up call with this. My dads sister and his uncle both lost both of their legs to diabetes. I don't want that to happen so I will be keeping an eye on things now. I have lost 7#'s over the last few days too..WooHoo!!

I wanted to share this with you just in case anyone of you is getting bad about keeping a check on their sugar like I did. I hope you are smarter than I was ;<).

I have been getting the last of the mending caught up so I can make some clothes and a Christmas present or two. I may have to hold off on the clothes though if I keep losing weight. I'm glad I kept some of the smaller sized clothes I used to wear!

I've got a lot of ideas for projects to make up after the first of the year. I'm thinking seriously about setting up at the local Farmers Market again. We tried it the first year they had one here and no one did very good. It sets up at a new location now and is managed a lot better than that first year. I'm planning on setting up depending on how things go here.

I better end this post before it becomes a book. I hope to be able to get back to posting more here and also more recipes on the cookbook blog too since I'm feeling better.

Hugs and Blessings my friends,

More Recipes added to the Cookbook!

I just added several more recipes to the cookbook. I hope you enjoy them!!
I will be adding more tomorrow also!!

Hugs and Blessings,

A few Fall Decorations and more!

I finally got some pictures taken between dead batteries in the camera and gloomy days. I hope you enjoy them!

Missy my 17 year old service cat. She gets me through my panic attacks!

Mom's ceramic birds in "their" house and below is pictures of her when she was 4 years old. The flash messed them up sorry!

shelves and mirror by the door


the top of my hutch with birdhouses and vines and the next is the vine crawling across the wall!

broom and vine on the front door

centerpiece of gourds, with artificial vines and flowers.
I hope you enjoyed these I will take more pictures when I find something interesting. There isn't much around here.

Hugs and Blessings,

Just a quick note.......

I finally got a few pictures taken of some of my fall decorations. I will post them tomorrow. I'm just too tired tonight and in too much pain with my back and legs. I went shopping at Walmart and Krogers today. We are pretty well stocked now! and I'm beat!!

I posted a couple of cookie recipes on the Cookbook Blog. They are both quick and easy and oh so good!!! I hope you enjoy them. I do....it shows too!!!! :(

I'll be back tomorrow with the pictures and more recipes...

Have a good night,

Hugs and Blessings my friends,

New Recipe added to cookbook!!

I just added a couple of cookie recipes to the cookbook. I will add more recipes tomorrow!!

Hugs and Blessings!

Real life....

just keeps interfering with my blogging time!! I hate that! I would rather spend time here with all of you, instead of cleaning, shopping, all that boring, necessary stuff!! lol!!

I have been trying to get the apartment ready for the cold weather and the pantry stocked up on staples. I need to take a few blankets to the laundry (they are too big for my apt. size washer) this week and that should be the end of most of my preparations. I still want to make some "candle heaters" just in case the electric would go out we could have a tiny bit of heat or at least heat a cup of water for tea...

I moved some appliances around on my kitchen counters today so I have more room next to the stove. I have my mixer there now instead of the microwave. I can roll out pie dough or cookies etc. and it also gives me room to sit jars when I take them out of the pressure canner. I like to make up large pots of food and then can most of it for future meals. I don't have to worry about things going bad in the freezer that way.

I've been spending time in the sewing/craft/office room too. I found 3 patterns that I was able to alter so they would fit. I really need something a couple sizes larger but these will work now. I've even gone through my stash of fabric and picked out enough that I can make 22 pieces clothing. I guess when I'm not cooking I'll be sewing during the day. My nights will be on here catching up with all of you. I will also be posting more recipes on the Kitchen blog. I have been been sorting through my stash of recipes and found a bunch more so keep watching over the next few weeks. I want to get as many posted as I can so I can move on to other projects.

I guess it's time for me to end this. Missy , my service cat, came in to help me type. She never seems to hit the right keys though.LOL!!

take care,
Hugs and blessings,