Don't feel like bloggin' right now. Will update later.

WR

I have a pile of green beans in the fridge and more in the garden waiting to be picked. It's really not that much --too much to cook before they go bad, but hardly enough to make it worthwhile to can them, IMO. But I need to get out there and pick them and then go to Mom and Dad's house so Mom can show me how to can them anyway. That's what I need to do, but this is how I feel about it...

WR

I collect a few patterns of dinnerware. None of them are fancy or very valuable. They are just patterns I really like. They give me a homey feeling when I look at the them. I like to use them whenever we have people over for a special occasion and they fit right in with our nothing fancy house where we eat in the kitchen 'cause we don't have a dining room (and I like it that way). I also use the serving pieces when I take food to a family dinner at Christmas or Thanksgiving.

This is one of the patterns I collect.

It was made by Metlox in the 1940's or 50's. It was never really given a name as far as I can figure, and was just offered as a premium to customers of A&P grocery stores in California. Because of that, the pattern is often called the Premium Rooster by those that know some of the history. (I've also seen it called the Skinny Rooster.) But since it was not widely distributed or sold, and because it doesn't really have a name, it is really hard to find any info on this pattern.

This also makes it very hard to find the pieces when you want to buy them, because people don't know how to describe it when selling it. I mean, what do you look for when searching for it on Ebay? LOL! There's no standard name for this pattern and it often doesn't even have the Metlox mark on it anywhere. So what you see, is everything I have of this pattern.

Usually, the rarer the pattern, the more expensive it is. But despite the fact that this one is hard to find, it's not really worth that much money --which is fine with me, 'cause I could not afford to collect it if it was. And since I only collect it because I like it, I don't care if the value of my "collection" is low.

Oh, and I almost forgot about this guy.

Believe it or not, he's a part of this pattern. Looks nothing like the painted rooster but this is the relish tray that went with this dinnerware. The olives, gherkins, cheese cubes, or whatever, were piled in each side of the tray and the picks to skewer them with were placed in the holes in the sides of the chicken.

Doesn't he make you smile?!

WR

I've been counting my blessings lately and thought I'd share a few of the things on my list. These are not huge things, nothing profound, just little things I've been thanking God for -- you may think some of them are silly but am thankful for every one of them.

• Tomatoes from the garden that are piling up all over the kitchen counter.


• Fresh figs, summer squash, and peaches given to us by family.


• Blueberries, found on sale, to eat with my cottage cheese.


• A second freezer with frozen tomatoes, figs, grapes, and blueberries in it for when the fresh ones are all gone.


• Harvesting onions, peppers, or greenbeans right out of the garden when I need them for something I'm cooking.


• New recipes, that my family loves, from friends I haven't even met.


• A bag of free pecans that we picked up various places earlier in the year.


• Learning where the good pecan trees are so we can pick up even more next year.


• Watermelons on the vine and lots of cantaloupe blooms (and the hope of cantaloupes soon).


• Wild bees to pollinate our garden and ladybugs to eat the aphids.


• Purple Martins who kept most of the moths out of the garden and flies out of the house (the flies have always been really bad here, 'til this year).


• Being able to see such beauty every day when I walk outside.


• Wildflowers and weeds in my yard, instead of a boring stretch of plain ol' grass.


• Learning how to tell which weeds are toxic, which are useful, and which are just very pretty if you give the a place of their own to grow.


• The fig tree that we thought had died last year, came back this year and is doing well.
  
• Finding little things on sale that I can use to bless others.


• All the people who have blessed me so many times in so many ways.
  

WR

Not a lot to report, really. I itch all over, it's not that bad except on my scalp (that's where it's always been the worst). Ears, throat, and the roof of mouth itches. Body odor is still bad, and breath is too. And I know you won't believe this is related to Candida but over the years I've learned that, for me, it is... the plaque in my mouth has gotten really bad. It gets very thick on my teeth throughout the day. When I had the Candida under control I was surprised at how much cleaner my teeth stayed.

Breakfast:
Cottage cheese with flax seed oil and fruit.

Lunch:
Leftover casserole.

Dinner:
Chili.

Supplements:
Super Enzymes at each meal
Grapefruit Seed Extract in a small cup of orange juice at breakfast
Candida Clear with breakfast and dinner
Two capsules of Gr8-Dophilus
Pau D'Arco Tea

WR

I was so tired today I almost fell asleep sitting up, once or twice. So when Pickle went down for his second nap, around 4:30, so did I. SweetPea woke me up when Pickle woke up, two hours later. I could have easily gone back to sleep and slept through 'til morning. I am still just as tired as I was before the nap.

Breakfast:
Yogurt with fruit and nuts.

Lunch:
Hot dog quesadilla -chopped and sauteed, hot dog, onion, and bell pepper put it on a flour tortilla, sprinkled with cheese, folded tortilla over, and fried 'til crisp.

Dinner:
A TexMex casserole.

Supplements:
I took Super Enzymes at each meal, Grapefruit Seed Extract in a small cup of orange juice at breakfast, Candida Clear with breakfast and dinner, and two capsules of Gr8-Dophilus after dinner.

Symptoms/Die-Off:
Irritated bloodshot eyes (really bad last night but mostly gone today)
A painful, itchy skin rash on upper thigh and another starting under arms
Irritated, but not congested, nasal passages
A little queasy
Stronger body odor
Dizzy/lightheaded
Fatigue
Ears ache
Itchy throat
Flem in throat

WR

It's only 10:30 AM and I am pretty frustrated today because I have a couple of posts that are ready to go but I can't post them because I can't find the cord for the camera so I can't download my pictures to the computer and use them in my posts and the posts just wouldn't be the same without those photos and I don't feel well today 'cause the die-off has started and has me feeling lightheaded, foggy, and bit dizzy or as some would say, "out of my head" but I still had to take SweetPea to her piano lesson this morning and the last I time took Pickle to Dr. Gary, I asked if we should go to the pediatrician about the fact that his left foot still turns in some and he said that if it was his child he wouldn't because he could just treat him at home and keep an eye on it but because Pickle is not his child, as a professional, yes he would advise me to take him to be x-rayed just to be sure, and after he adjusted him, he had him run up and down the hall several times and said that he wanted us to bring him back one more time, so we have an appointment today and like I said, I don't feel well... oh, and the library just called and we need to go pick-up a book that Rooster requested.

WR --The newly crowned Queen of the Run-On Sentence

I cut out refined sugar and started restricting simple carbs like bread, rice, and potatoes yesterday. I've taken a couple of doses of Candida Clear so far. I am also taking a Super Enzymes tablet with my meals --when I remember. It contains an enzyme that breaks down the walls of yeast cells. And last night I drank a cup of ginger tea, which made my throat burn with every sip but it didn't taste bad at all.

Today I ate an omelet and bacon for breakfast, a bowl of plain yogurt with fruit, nuts, and probiotic powder in it for lunch, and Rooster is cooking pork roast for dinner. Breakfast and lunch were so good it made me wonder why I don't eat like this all the time.

So that's it for today. I know you just can't wait to hear more. LOL!

WR

I'm going to start a new category for my posts about the Candida (yeast, of the harmful variety) cleanse. I'll update fairly often, if not everyday, to let y'all know how it's going.

Today, I have some sore spots in my mouth, and my ears feel stuffy. I'm also pretty tired, but I've done this cleanse before and know it will get worse before it gets better.

Here's a recent post I made on a forum, about what I'm doing...

For antifungals I have three bottles of Candida Clear, one bottle of Formula SF722, a 16oz bottle of food grade H2O2, Pau d'Arco, Garlic, locally grown and made whole Goldenseal tincture, VCO, Beat Kvass, and several other things that I can't recall right now.

I plan to take the Candida Clear while cycling some of the other things in and out over about three months. I will restrict my diet but I probably wont do a complete "yeast fast" type of diet. I plan to cut white sugar completely out and cut back on carbs. But I will continue to use honey and natural sweeteners in moderation (cutting back most severely in the beginning).

I also have three or four bottles of gr8 dophilus (TTU8), will be eating a good yogurt, and drinking kefir (beet kvass has probiotics too, and I need to get a SCOBY for KT) while on the antifungals. I also hope to make some sauerkraut.

When I stop the anitfungals I will take Saccharomyces. It's a beneficial yeast that I learned about when my dad got sick. It survives the stomach acids and completes very well with the bad guys for space in the intestinal tract. It goes by the brand name Florastor but you can get it much cheaper if you search for Saccharomyces and buy an "off brand".

I will continue watching my diet to make sure I don't eat too many sweets and get enough cultured foods from there on out.

That's the plan anyway.

WR

I've decided to do a lot more "This is My Day" type of posting. Kinda like a public diary. I've been spending less time at my favorite online communities and so this is a way to feel like I'm staying in touch with my OLF's --ya know, meet that need to "chat". LOL!

Well today, I am starting a cleanse to rid myself of Candida. The other family members (except Pickle) are kinda doing it along with me. All but one of them volunteered so the last one got drafted. LOL.

I'm not going to be as strict on them as myself, of course. But it's a lot easier to just cook once at each meal, than to make a meal for everyone else, a different one for me, and then sit down to eat while watching the rest of the family nom on stuff I can't have.

If I had to do that, this would be my next post...


more cat pictures

The only other stuff going on today is a trip to the library. Yay! We love library day! And I have to think of something to do with the TON of figs Mom and Dad brought back for me. I can eat a lot of figs (YUM, they are one of my favorite fruits) but not this much, and I don't' want to can them 'cause you have to add a lot of sugar to do that. I'll probably freeze most of them and put the rest in the fridge for snacks.

See Ya',
WR

I've been staying at my parents house this weekend, to take care of their birds while they were away. It's been a nice break from the routine. The first night it was just me and Pickle and we had some great one on one time!

But I didn't eat like I should and by the second night I was not feeling well and became quite tired and grumpy. Also, Pickle did not have a good nap all day (he normally has two) and was quite hyper and unable to listen to correction. So Bull took him home and Rooster and SweetPea stayed with me last night. Unfortunately, we didn't get as much time together. They are older and run off to play or do their own things. :sigh:

Well, I'm heading home today as Mom and Dad will be back later this afternoon. The birds are still alive (thank God), I am rested, and would like to spend some time with My Man before he has to go back to the daily grind.

WR

My shopping trip yesterday, turned out to be a good one. For my cousin's baby girl, I got four adorable sun dresses with bloomers, and a set of four really nice bows made from grosgrain ribbon. The bows matched the dresses pretty well so I was happy to find them. I also found two cutesy hats for my great niece. And I only spent around $15 for all of it. Not bad, huh?

WR

Brockleesgirl [littlemama] will be happy to know that I'm getting out today! LOL!

But I'm just going to pick-up our milk and taking Pickle to his last chiropractic appointment. I'm taking Dr. Gary some tomatoes from the garden.

Then I'm going shopping for a gift for my cousin's baby (that's not born yet). It's a girl --I LOVE shopping for baby girl stuff!!!

I wish I had a sewing machine to sew cutesy, girly, baby stuff.... and the time to sew cutesy, girly, baby stuff.... and knew how to sew cutesy, girly, baby stuff.

:sigh:

WR

Ok, ok! I confess! I'm one of those goofy moms who makes up stupid little songs and poems for and about my kids. I do it all the time, without much thought (and it shows! LOL!).

Here's one of my "masterpieces". *snort*

[SweatPea]'s a banana,
She's long and thin,
The only thing she's missin' is the yellow skin!

This next one shows off my originality. *sputter*

I love you.
You love me.
One and one and one makes three.
Two little boys and a girl for me.
Growin' our family tree.

Some of them the kids don't like, some they laugh at, and some they remember and repeat. Every once in a while I come up with something I can't help but laugh at, and simultaneously hope they wont repeat in public. :) My latest is in that category. Ya' see, Pickle has a mild diaper rash, and I made this one for him while changing his diaper.

I have a b*tt.
My b*tt is red.
It's at the opposite end from my head.
Not many things my b*tt can do,
All it does is f*rt and poo.

WR

Dr. Gary is our chiropractor. He's a Christian, a husband, a father to four boys, and a really good chiropractor. (He also likes garden-fresh tomatoes.)

I've had mild back pain for years. At times it was worse than usual but then it would ease up again. I just thought it was something I had to live with. Then I got pregnant with Pickle and my back started getting worse. I hoped things would go back to normal after the birth.

Some time after that, Bull injured his back and started having tingling in his legs that just wouldn't go away. Some days it was so bad that he couldn't concentrate on anything else. He decided to try a chiropractor.

The first one he went to wouldn't give him a plan of treatment that ended with recovery. He seemed to want dh to just keep coming back --and tell all his family and friends how much they all needed see the chiropractor too. There was a heavy pushing of products and services and they wanted Bull to invite everyone he knew to come to "parties" at the office were they too could hear about these products and services. And to top it off, Bull was not seeing any benefit from his visits. So he stopped going, but his back wouldn't let him just forget the whole thing.

About that time, someone recommended Dr. Gary. So Bull decided to give it another try.

By then I had recovered from the birth and surgery (my second C-section) and was starting to understand that a lot of things were just not getting better --and my back was one of them. I was having back pain that was waking me up every night and I started each day in pain. So, Bull decided to make an appointment for me too. Dr. Gary got Bull in working order fairly quickly and help me immensely (our insurance doubled our copay before my treatment was over, and I was feeling so much better that I decided to stop going for a while).

Then recently, when pickle had been walking for a few months, we began to worry about his inability to go two days in a row without falling down and hitting his his head. The boy constantly had a bruise or knot on his head somewhere, and I regularly watched him for signs of a concussion.

His feet tended to turn in, but the left foot more so than the right. And believe it or not his adorable little baby b*tt crack was crooked! It veered to the left at the top and it had been that way since he was born, but thank God that was beginning to straighten out.

Still, the constant falling was not getting better, it was getting worse. Once, he gave himself two busted lips, a bloody nose, and a bump on the forehead, by falling repeatedly on the hardwood floor, over the span of three days. So we took him to Dr. Gary.

He told us that Pickle's hip joints seemed loose, especially the left side, and if after a few appointments we didn't see any improvement then we should take Pickle to a pediatrician to have x-rays done (it takes a special set-up to x-ray toddlers) to check for serious abnormalities. Well after a few adjustments, things seemed to be improving so I made a few more appointments.

WR

Sorry this post is so late but it's been a busy day. Well anyway, here's this Friday's Favorite...

It's a new favorite thing. My sister and BIL brought it back for me from their weekend in the mountains. It is an egg separator made to look like a silly chicken. Too Cute! I haven't had an opportunity to use it yet but I know the kids will all be gathered around to see the egg "snot" come out of the chickens mouth. LOL!

WR

(please excuse my bare naked bed)

I think it has a lot to do with this little guy. He loves the box,...

And they have always said he is...

..."THE BEST TOY!!!" we've EVER given them. LOL!

They are THE BEST KIDS EVER!!!

WR

Just thought I'd take an occasional Friday to show y'all a few of my favorite things. And though I will be talking about things, many of these things are dear to me because of their connection to some of my favorite people and places.

For instance, this really old, lowly little blue pitcher...

This was Granny Trudy's pitcher. She gave it to me a few years before she got sick. It was just stowed away on a back shelf in her pantry. At some point, someone broke the handle off and glued it back on so they could keep right on using it.

I love that rustic quality it has, with all it's little bumps and divots. I love the color of it --it reminds me of denim and cornflowers. And I love the fact that it was handmade by some long ago artist, who probably never thought of himself as an artist at all. He was just making a household necessity... but it's beautiful.

And of course it's one of my favorite things because it was my Granny's, and she wanted me to have it.

WR

You've heard the old saying, "A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush", but we've found that for these feathered friends its, "A bird in the sand...". They've made a nest out of a sandy spot in our side yard! As you can see, it's right out in the open, not hidden in a bush or a tree as most other birds prefer.

Bull saw a bird sitting on the ground one day about a week ago, and though it was hurt. So, he started over toward it and it started limping around with one of it's wings out, which looked for all the world as though he was right --it's wing was broken. Then he saw the egg.

There was a depression in the dirt and a single, speckled, egg was resting sweetly in it.

He called us all out to see it. I ran back in and got the camera and took a few pictures of the egg. And since the hen had long since given up on making us believe we could have a quick lunch if only we would follow her away from the nest, she and her mate were perched in some trees at the edge of our property.

We didn't know what kind of bird this was so I posted the pictures on WellTellMe and asked my OLFs [OnLine Friends] if they could, well, ...tell me. ;D

They said it was a killdeer. Killdeer make their nest on the ground in open areas and they will pretend to be injured in order to lure predators away from the nest. The eggs are camouflaged really well by the dark speckles. Even when you are standing very close to them, they are surprisingly hard to spot.

I looked up some info on them and found out that the hen lays one egg a day for four days before she starts incubating them. So, we had found them on day one.

I also found that the eggs incubate for four weeks! Bull was ok with that --no mowing the side yard for a month.The reason they incubate so much longer than other birds, is because Killdeer do not feed their young in the nest. The babies hatch and immediately start following mom and dad around hunting for food.

So I decided to take photos periodically, to document the experience... and so that, just maybe, I'll get a photo of the babies before they are gone.

I'll keep you posted.

WR

P.S. All the close-ups were taken with a "zoom" lens, I wasn't actually that close to the birds or the eggs. Also, if you look closely at the photos of the Daddy bird standing over the nest you can see the eggs on the ground between his feet.

I'm still blogging. In fact I've started several new posts but they are all in my drafts folder. I haven't have time to finish any of them. I'll try to get one posted tomorrow. I know you're all on the edge of your seats. :rolling eyes: LOL!

WR