💚💚Merry March💚💚

 

                                                   Patrick's Gnomes on the Farm

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/gnome-on-the-farm-by-m-donna/

 March came in like a lion here in the Pacific Northwest. But I guess we can't complain because it sounds like everyone is having bad weather. So sorry for all of us! I am sure we are all ready for summer. 

My 84th birthday was last Sunday and the kids were over. Had a really good time, but then we always do

After being at the Dr. last week about my back I decided I would try to borrow an inversion table from someone, but couldn't find one, so ended up and had to use Amazon. It was here when we got up yesterday morning so that was yesterdays project! Oh, my goodness....how many part it has. We decided it was too much so texted our youngest son to see if he was busy and it was just starting to rain so he couldn't burn the piles in his field so he came over and they got it all put together and got it set up for my height. I used it too long the first time and my back hurt the rest the day. But we moved the back heat massage "pillow" this morning and it is in a better place. They call it a pillow but it is too hard to be called pillow!

We got our last Xfinity bill and I just about freaked out. So called them and got our "package" put down. We have the lowest package that has mainly just the networks on. I do miss CNN and MSNBC but the bill just got too high. I honestly don't see how people can pay the enormous amount they charge anymore. Something should be down about it...The next thing will be cut the cord  completely, I guess. But you have to have internet anymore. Our homeowners insurance went way up, too. I know everyone is going through the same thing. So I shouldn't complain! Everyone is going thrugh the same things. Sorry!

I will sign off for now. Still working on themes and updates. 

I can't believe we are actually hearing about the next Presidential election already. I think maybe we were smart cutting half the cable.

The sun is shining this morning and all is well!

Have a good week, a good month and be well.

💖💖Fantastic February 💖💖

                                                     Gnome Valentine

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/gnome-valentine-m-donna/

 I will start updating my blog but will have to finish tomorrow since the day is running out on me. But Valentines Day is tomorrow and it is hard for me to believe. 

Will get back to this tomorrow or there won't be any dinner for my dear hubby!

I am back. Just got back from my walk. I managed to save enough to buy a pay of heated gloves to wear. My hands would get so cold. The first pair I ordered only kept the top of my hands warm so I returned them and found another pair. This pair works wonderful. I wear snow pants, scarf and heavy jacket.....plus my heated gloves now. 

 Had a new ex-ray of my back and it isn't good. It has only been a year and half since my surgery but my spine is deteriorating quickly. I sure don't look forward to another surgery and haven't made an appt. to go to Dr. The longer I don't go, the longer I don't have to make any decisions. I don't sit at the computer at all. My stand up desk works great.

Made a bunch of gnome valentines and didn't even get them all submitted so will carry over till next year, hopefully.

You know, I am getting so I hate to hear the news. I am anxious to hear it but dread it, seems like. You don't hear any good news anymore. The left hates the right and the right hate the left....war...earthquakes, floods, snow storms, UFO's, balloons, etc.

Kids all came over to watch Super Bowl. I was the only one in the bunch that wanted the Chiefs to win, so I was happy! We had Papa Murphy's pizza, and lots of snacks. Daughter in law made apple crisp and homemade ice cream. Fun day, but sitting that long didn't help my back any!

I am so looking forward to warmer weather. If our kids didn't all live within 5 miles of us, I would want to go to AZ but then again, we couldn't afford that so that is a pipe dream!

Got our income tax finished so hope that goes well. 

I have decided since I didn't sign up for any incentives for themes that I will  accept Amazon gift cards for any amount. That is easy to do....all you need is my email address to do so. I would appreciate any amount since we do a lot of our shopping from them. Haven't been as happy with their service lately because it seems like it takes them much longer to send out a shipment than it used to. I haven't received anything the next day in months like we used to. 

I hope everyone had a nice Valentines Day. I am cooking my hubby a special dinner and that is about it. 

My 84th birthday is coming up in less than 2 weeks. Seems like time goes too fast. Our oldest great grandson will be 18 this Sunday!

Going to sign off for today and start dinner. 

I want to let you all know that I appreciate the wonderful reviews and comments. I read each and every one and always try to answer.

Have a great rest of February!

 

 

A New Year Begins

                                                                 Jumping Fox

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/a-jumping-fox-by-m-donna/

Wow, can you believe it is 2023?  Amazing that we made it through 2022, but we did.

We had a bad storm the week before Christmas. No mail delivery for a week, no package deliveries, etc. We live on a dead end road and the County never plows it. Luckily one of our 5 neighbors has a Bobcat and plowed our road the first day but we had such a bad NE wind that comes down from Canada that it blew shut within an hour or more. When it finally quit snowing, he plowed it again so you could at least get down our road. Then it started raining and everything turned to ice and you could not walk outside! Our snow drifts because of the wind so we actually had bare spots in our front yard that were skating rinks. So glad that is all over....for now anyway. My brother and his wife flew up from AZ for Christmas but with the weather so bad we didn't get to visit with them before they flew out. I was so disappointed but you can't fight the weather!

The kids could get here Christmas and we had a really nice, homey day. We couldn't get out but I had my daughter pick up 10# of chicken wings at Costco so I could make our chicken wings. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without them for us. The kids all brought lots of stuff so we had plenty to eat. As soon as dinner was over we played Uno for hours. Our daughter in law makes up new wild cards so our Uno is a Killer! Gets pretty wild but all in good nature. Our daughter works at a grocery Corporate Office and they get lots of sample products in so she had been collecting some for a gift bag, so whoever wins gets to go through the gift bag and there is always something everyone wants! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and got to be with family. At least we didn't have to mess with airlines! 

We are such stay at homers, we even quit going out for groceries. WalMart had a special where you if you joined WalMart+ you got Paramount+ free, so that was all I needed to join. We had been doing WalMart pick ups for months. But this is so nice....having your groceries brought to your door! Plus we had been wanting to get Paramount+ for a long time but just didn't feel we could afford it. We are old timers and like western type shows. We had joined the free month last summer just so we could watch 1883! But had canceled after 2 weeks. So now we are looking forward to 1923. But are going to wait until the season is over and watch it back to back. Plus we are looking forward to Yellowstone coming on Peacock. We have the economy pack from Comcast and get Peacock free. But our cost is going up in January by $13.00 and just found out our power is going up 12+% so there goes our "big" retirement raise! 

I hope you didn't get tired of my gnome themes! I fell in love with them and am working on all the holidays. 

Our son and his wife brought a Nordic Trac they couldn't use anymore for my husband (he turned 87 in Dec.) to use. But after being in the shop during that winter storm we had, it won't work. They went through it yesterday and mechanically it is fine so it has to be in the panel so my husband is checking that out today.

I am still doing my walks, but I don't go out when it is super cold and windy. Hoping to be able to get out today.

I wish you all a Happy, Healthy New Year. Please take care of yourselves and your loved ones.

                         4 Gnomes New Year

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4-gnomes-new-year-by-m-donna/
 

Cold, Cold December

                                           

                       A Christmas Gnomes Home
 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/christmas-gnomhome-by-m-donna/   

We have been having a really cold December! And it's supposed to stay cold for awhile. I do not like it! Cold weather is much harder on the elderly. We both notice it

I have plenty to do to keep me busy, though.

Thanksgiving was really fun. Tons of food and we played Uno afterwords. One grandson and family were all sick so they didn't get to attend. There is so much sickness going around. We still aren't going out much. We did go and get our 2nd Shingrix vaccine yesterday. We should have gotten the 2nd one 4 year ago, but they never told us so we didn't. Next week we both get our tetanus shots updated.

The laptop I bought with my first Covid check updated to Windows 11 yesterday. I hadn't planned on it, but I accidentally did, So far, so good. It isn't that much different but going to take getting used to. I noticed it had a bunch of junk like TicTok and several apps that I won't use so I got rid of them. I don't do my Photoshop on the laptop so still using my old, old desktop. It just keeps plugging away.

I imagine everyone but us is buying Christmas gifts! We quit gifting quite a few years ago so I don't have that to worry about. When our grandkids were small I went way overboard. I sewed for months before and made each of the 7 almost a new wardrobe! I loved the sewing and wish I could do more now.

But this is what I pretty much work on now. I work standing up about half the time because of my back. 

 

                                   Winter Gnomes Home

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/winter-gnomes-by-m-donna/

 As you may have noticed I am working on a lot of gnome themes. I think they are the cutest things ever. The Winter Gnomes Home, I also made a wallpaper to match that one. If you want more of your theme to show just add a toolbar and you will see the entire image!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and winter. Don't spend too much money. What with grocery prices I am very glad we aren't shopping for gifts also. We will have Christmas here but no gifts. We don't fix dinner for Christmas anymore, just tons of snacky stuff! I have got to figure out what to make soon. 

Well, I am going to sign off for now but wanted to add a bit for December.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

 

💨💨Blustery November💨💨

                                                  NOVEMBER GNOMES

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/november-gnomes-by-m-donna/

 We got through October! Have you had enough election mailers and tv ads? Boy, we have! This is one of the hardest fought elections I have been through and one of the most important. I am not feeling very positive in my old age!

What a wonderful summer we had! But now the fall is here and it is cold, rainy, windy and even a few snowflakes have fallen. We are about as ready for it as we can be at our age. I am back into hoodies and half the time when I am working on the computer back here in my "office" (boys old bedroom!) I have the hood up! It is amazing how much warmer you are with a hat on. My husband told me that years ago, that a large percentage of your body heat goes out the top of your head. He was right!

I am still updating and working on a lot of new themes. I still love working on new themes and sometimes I get so excited over one. But then go back later and can't figure out why I liked it so well, so delete it.

Veterans Day is Friday. I hope everyone thanks a veteran they know. My Dad was a veteran from WWII, My brother is also a veteran. So thank you to all the veterans that have kept our country free.

My husband and I do a lot of reading on tablets so they are all ebooks. I get most of them free from Amazon. I get a daily update of free books from BookBub and Freebooksy. If you read a lot and read on a tablet of some sort, you can sign up and get an email every day with a list of free and discounted books. You can choose the genre you like. We like historical and mystery. My husband favors Western. I also get free ebooks from our local library. Just finished reading Hold the Line by Michael Fanone. That was a really good one! I don't usually write reviews on books but I did on that one.

I have never asked for money, etc. for my themes but I have decided if anyone wants to send me an Amazon gift card as a thank you I would more than gladly accept it. We use Amazon a lot. I do the Subscribe and Save for a lot of things that we use all the time, supplements, etc. So gift cards are very useful! Just had to order a walky talky set because the one I use in the house finally broke down. We use walky talkies so we can keep in contact when he is out. We have gone through a lot of sets over the years so I ordered a much cheaper set this time and it seems to work fine. If you set them up to the same channels you can use an old one along with a new one...

I started my fall cleaning, but the shoulder I broke in late April isn't up to window washing! I was surprised because it hasn't bothered me much but I guess all of them won't get cleaned on the inside. Will try one more and see how it goes.

I am so afraid my desktop is not going to start some morning when I open it up. My grandson (the IT guy at WWU) built my desktop so many years ago I can't remember. He put XP in it. I have had 7 and 10 and can't update it to 11. He has had to replace a few things in it. A video card once and a SS hard drive but otherwise everything else is pretty much the same. I know I want another desktop but it has to have a lot of USB ports and most of them don't. So I just keep working this as long as it starts! My old Photoshop is on a disc and I am going to have to put the program on a USB so I can install it whenever I have to get that new one. Maybe I will do that this afternoon. 

I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and lovely fall. I will get back on one of these days.

All is well here in the PNW!

🎃🎃Scary October🎃🎃

                                                                  Halloween Scare

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/halloween-scare-by-m-donna/

Well, it is almost Halloween! We are still having temperatures in the 70's! Totally loving it! But the smoke from forest fires is really bad. Yesterday it was laying close to the ground and made your eyes hurt and coughing. We have all windows, etc. closed but it still gets into the house.

Have been keeping real busy. I have to be busy or am not a happy camper! Back to walking. Dr. said just not to walk so far so I am down to 1 mile a day. I really can't say it has helped my back and legs any but gonna keep at it. 

We lost a very dear neighbor this month. He was 92 but he was out working all the time, like my dear husband. You have to keep busy to stay alive. 

I will be very glad when the election is over...so tired of the mail and the TV ads. But I am very worried about what will happen in our country if the MAGA take over. I don't think they know what democracy is! When I was 9 years old I asked my Dad what the difference was between Republicans and Democrats. I couldn't understand why they were listening to the radio when the Truman/Dewey election returns were on the radio. I was 9! It was 1948! My Dad's answer was "The Republicans help the rich and the Democrats help the poor, like us!" That was a very long time ago but I remember it very well. Things haven't changed much. 

 We got our flu shot a couple weeks ago and our Covid Booster last week. We have gotten Pfizer for all of our shots and neither one of have had any complications. Arm a tad sore but that was all. So many aren't getting their boosters and they are making a big mistake. We will have a fall surge, probably starting after Thanksgiving. People seem to think Covid is gone. It's not. It is just waiting for all of you unvaccinated out there. Because most people aren't taking any precautions at all. No masks, etc. 

I really don't have much to say. I am definitely feeling my age. I have noticed it more and more this fall. Plus all of my injuries and surgeries over my lifetime don't help much, 

We're doing good for our age but we can both tell it this fall for some reason.

Have a great Halloween and be healthy!

                                                                       Top of the Mountain

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/top-of-the-mountain-by-m-donna/

 

 

🏈SEPTEMBER🏈

                                                                 SEA SUNSET

   https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sea-sunrise-m-donna/

Well, here we are. September! I know lots of people love the fall weather but to me it is just the beginning of winter and cold, miserable weather! I am a summer gal! I totally enjoyed the 85 to 90° weather we had. I even put our big fan up today. We don't have AC and really don't need it. We only used the big tall fan one evening actually.

😜

My shoulder has almost entirely healed and doesn't bother me at all. But this past week end was my daughter, grandaughter and my Pickle Day. We get together and do over 50# of cucumbers and make pickles every year. Got 49 qts this year. Half my Grandma Joe's recipe for dill and half Bread and Butter. We call them Three Bitches Pickles! Years ago one of us joked about being bitches and that was it. I made a label for the jars even. Everyone loves both the dills and the B&B's. Our dills are very hot! 

 

But this year I wasn't the one that cut each and every cucumber. My shoulder gave out about 35# in and my husband took over for about 10 minutes to let my shoulder rest. It really upset me and I never even thought about it starting to hurt as it hadn't bothered me for some time...but when you are cutting 50# of cucumbers that is a lot of chopping and slicing.  

I have been enjoying my daily walks this summer. I am not looking forward to walking in the cold but I will. You have to keep your body moving!

Going to sign off for today. Have a super September and enjoy the last warm days.