Happy Halloween Everone!!!


Been a great weekend here for football, so have not been online that much.
And the phone call I had at 2:15 this morning didn't help my disposition much . . .
But that is another story.

Hope you got lots of treats and only played 'nice' tricks !!!



Later
Jovi

|

The End Of Autumn


Sadly it has happened.
Last night nasty storms blew thru here and took most of the glorious colour off of the trees.
Today? We are under a High Wind Advisory which will demolish the rest.

So....... the Colour Of Autumn is over.

I hate it when that happens.


Later
Jovi

|

Okay got it.
For those who don't know, on May 18th I became a first time grandma thanks to my older son and his wife. I have only 3 photos of Belle and all were taken when she was in the hospital at birth. My mother and I have begged for pics to no avail.
When my other son went to stay with his brother last month I sent along a camera and we finally got the pics yesterday. Baby Belle is Adorable ! and she looks just like her dad did at that age......
So here is the link for my pics.
My Photos
Later!
Jovi

|

Beer Cheese Dip
Perfect for tailgate parties!


1 8oz pkg Velveeta
1 8oz pkg Cream Cheese
(both at room temperature)
1/4 to 1/2 cup beer
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small loaf each Rye and Pumpernickle Breads
(torn in bite size pieces for dipping)


Cut cheeses into cubes for easier blending.
In Blender or Food Processor, blend together thoroughly both cheeses.
Slowly adding beer, a 'splash' at a time until desired consistency.
(like a thick soup or nacho cheese)
Add garlic, to taste, blending for additional 3-5 minutes.
Serve with bread cubes at room temperature for best flavour.
This dip is traditionally served in a hollowed out loaf of bread, but you can use whatever container suits your needs.


Later
Jovi

|

Finally!!!
I have been trying to access my blog for almost 2 days!
I would have been happy with any blog at one point!
Not sure what was up, but I was able to post at Gramm's
yesterday afternoon and now here this morning I can actually see my blog!
Iyiyiyiyiyi. . . .


Working on a project to post here later today so stay tuned. . .



The Coffee Is Done!!!
Later

Jovi

|

Coffee, computer, and I'm home.


Had a chance to go down home for a couple of days sooooooo I did.
Had a great time, saw some old school friends, tons of changes and visited an old neighbor. Just got back last night.


My favourite 'wings' place is still there, under another name but the wings still tasted the same, as with the Deli... Lordy that man can make a fantastic rubuen!


Going thru my email I came upon this quote and can't let it sit.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY
"If this isn't good for my heart, I don't know what is."
BILL CLINTON, at a campaign rally in Philadelphia.
Ummmm didn't we already do that dance with Monica???


Guess I had best go blogging to see what everyone has been up to, and what I missed!


Later!

Jovi

|

Interesting two days. . .


Been babysitting the two little darling monsters downstairs for my neighbor.
Ages 2-1/2 and 5.
And her sister's 4 month old.
I now know why I stopped having children.
It has been too long since I was responsible for an infant, let alone the adorable little monsters. er ummmmm kids.
Okay seriously, they are great kids.
I just am out of practice on youngin's.
My two are 27 & 19..... it's been a while.


On another note. . .
Looks like my 19 yr old, the one who left for Seattle last month to work in his brothers restaurant to earn money for college, may be coming home.
I am picking up wierd 'vibes' during our phone talks.
He went from not calling at all to 3 calls in the past two days.
I think part of this may stem from simply being homesick for his life here, his friends, his own room, own TV, Playstation, etc.
the other part?
He and his brother have not seen eachother in 6 yrs.
They both have changed since they were kids (obviously) and maybe the 'glow' of admiration he has had for his older brother has worn off.
I don't know.
He knows he can come home at any time.
(His damn cat would be overjoyed as would the neighbor's dog)
Me?
Odd.
I have gotten used to him not being here.
But, I have missed the little snot.
So we shall see what he wants to do.


Time for coffee and some quiet time with a good book, and then have some catch-up work to do.
Maybe a nap - - kids wore me out.
Later!
Jovi

|

I love scented candles and potpourri.
I went to Wicks-n-Sticks today and picked up some Tarts for my burner.
Got my usual scents and decided to try a new one... a Lemon Zest.
Smelled okay in the wrapper.
Well here I am , 4 hours later with a house that smells like DishSoap!
That is all I can think of..... it smells like friggin soap.
So if you are like me and do not like to have a constant reminder that the dishes need washed, I do NOT recommend the Lemon Zest, in any form.
Good thing I only bought one!!!


The mall is already getting crazy in anticipation of the Holiday Shopping Season.
It is way too crowded.
But the sounds and sights of what is to come is a really nice feeling.
I am just not one for major crowds while trying to shop.


Let the Bucs win tonight!!!


Got dishes to wash.

Later
Jovi

|

Okay It's Official.


Not only does the local news station report in at 30 outside, the thermometer outside my kitchen window says 29, and there is a coating of ice on the bird bath.
It would be Freezing.

Sooooooo am thinkin' I should get out the real winter clothes today.
Wonder when we will get our first snow!!!
(I really hope that holds off for a few weeks yet)



Happy Monday Folks!
Did everyone enjoy their weekend???


Coffee's Done...
Later!
Jovi

|

Gotta LOVE Them STEELERS!!!

Guess I'm buying tonight!!!

Jovi

|

Football Sunday


From my point of view, it is a good day for Football.
First we have the Bengals / Browns game... Lets Go Bengals!
And after that is the Steelers Game !!!
(they are playing ummmmmm the uhhh oh, yeah... Cowboys)
So it is off to work on afghans, and watch some Football !
of course, with coffee in hand.


Wonder who is buying the drinks tonight?


Later !
Jovi

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Coffee Trivia


Coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year.


Coffee represents 75% of all the caffeine consumed in the United States.


52% of Americans drink coffee.


The most widely accepted legend associated to the discovery of coffee is of the goatherder named Kaldi of Ethiopia. Around the year 800-850 A.D., Kaldi was amazed as he noticed his goats behaving in a frisky manner after eating the leaves and berries of a coffee shrub. And, of course, he had to try them.


In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family's pot filled with coffee.
(Damm, out of coffe... Honey? I want a divorce!!!)


Large doses of coffee can be lethal. Ten grams, or 100 cups over 4 hours, can kill the average human.
( don't think I drink THAT much... yet)


Coffee, along with beer and peanut butter, is on the national list of the "ten most recognizable odors."


Coffee, as a world commodity, is second only to oil.



Dark roasted coffees actually have LESS caffeine than medium roasts. The longer a coffee is roasted, the more caffeine burns off during the process.
(Explains why I get buzzed faster sometimes)


The Civil War in the United States elevated the popularity of coffee to new heights. Soldiers went to war with coffee beans as a primary ration.


In 1900, coffee was often delivered door-to-door in the United States, by horse-pulled wagons.
(holding mug outside the front door!)


During World War II the U.S. government used 260 million pounds of instant coffee.



"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and as sweet as love" - Turkish Proverb


Time for coffee
Later!
Jovi

|

What do you do on a cold wet rainy day?


I baked yesterday.
Now to some this may not sound like a major big deal but. . .
I hate baking.
I love to cook, but I don't have the patience to bake.
Takes too damn long.
By baking I am refering to cakes, cookies, pies etc.
I do not consider making lazagna or meat loaf(dinner) as baking.
But about 5 times a year, I break down and bake.
Yesterday was one of those times.
This time of year I make Pumpkin Bread.
I actually get requests for it from the schools for the bake sales, and by friends for get-togethers.
So. . . am going to share my recipie for my bread if anyone wants to try it.
It really is good, and I do not like sweet breads as a rule, nor do I care for pumpkin pie. But this is good bread.

Pumpkin Bread
Preheat oven to 350
Lightly grease 2 regular size loaf pans.


Dry Ingredients:
4 cups flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp gound ginger
(1 cup chopped walnuts - optional)


Wet Ingredients:
1 16oz can unsweetened Pumpkin
1 cup oil (I use canola)
4 eggs, beaten
2/3 cups cold water


Mix together dry ingredients, set aside.
Mix together wet ingredients thouroughly.
Slowly stir in Dry to Wet.
1 cup chopped walnuts can be added at this point.
Pour in loaf pans.
Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.
(inserted knife should come out clean when done)

And thats it.
Enjoy!
(This bread does not follow any known low-carb, low-cal diet plans, but pumkin IS a Vegatable and they are supposed to be good for you, right?)

Later!
Jovi

|

Blessed Be !!!

I have a working furnace!!!
(doesn't take much to make me happy)
Heat!!!
Warmth!!!
and that funky smell because it hasn't been used since about March.
Oh well....
2 out of 3 ain't bad

|

Long Weekend
Hope everyone had a great one!
Mine had it's Ups & downs, In & outs, Over & unders, but other than that was pretty quiet.
Went and bought a new comforter for my bed Friday.
The old one is fine, but I like lots of warmth and... they were on sale!



So..... the cats now have a new bed. (sigh)
They love it.
I might get to use it one of these nights.


Landlord is finally getting over here to do the winter check on the furnaces, so maybe tonight I can have heat.
Would be a nice thing.


A question was asked of me the other day
Yankes/Red Sox?
I need to mull that one over.
I have not followed baseball since I fell in love with Hockey back when the Pens were kicking ass all over the ice, and Football, obviously, is my main sports love.
So... I will get back to you on that.
My first instict is Yankess, but I have no real reason for saying that, just sounds good.


Coffee break is over...
Back to work.
Later
Jovi

|

Okay
lousy weekend, but. . .
Steelers Won
Giants Won
and for Tammi . . .

The Bucs Won !!!

|

I wonder how much alimony he pays?


Found this while surfing, as I sit and wait for the coffee to get done.
Man, 72, Marries for the 53rd Time


and while getting ready for Halloween. . .
Ghosts, Spooks and Specters Haunt City


Now on to coffee. . . . .
Later

Jovi

|

Hey!
Put up a new pic on my profile
If interested, go here Profile
(Okay so I am warped.)

|

If one could wish a day or two away,
I would get rid of the past two days.
They were chaotic and a mess.
They weren't bad days, just incredibly insane.
So we are going to pretend they didn't happen.


I got 2 new orders for afghans, wanted by Christmas, so on top of what is already on the list, I am going to try to get these done also. That is the problem with custom orders, they want them yesterday, not realizing that it takes time to do them right.
So I will be busy with that on top of everything else.
(I do billing and bookkeeping for small businesses here in this area and A.S.I.)


My son turns 19 tomorrow.
(the younger one)
When he left, he and I had a talk about communication and I told him I was not going to call him too much.
Okay , it is his first time 'away' from home and I am a typical parent in the aspect that I am trying to NOT worry, trying to give him his 'freedom' and let him grow.
But,,,,,, I do feel that a Birthday Call is not out of order.
I have not called him.
He has called twice,
Once from the airport, letting me know he got there okay
and once last week, letting me know he is alive.
So yeah... he is getting a call from mom tomorrow, on his Birthday.


His cat is finally emerging for more than mealtime.
Poor thing has barely left my son's room since he left.
I didn't see her for the first few days at all.
I had to go looking to make sure she was still here.
(you try explaining to a cat that her owner is gone for an extended period of time)
Past few days she has been out more and I actually caught her playing this morning with the others.
So things may be looking up for her.



as always,
time for coffee.
Later
Jovi

|

Jim over at The Velvet Blog
has a great post today ..... concerning Drivers
Check it out!



Later
Jovi

|

Note to Self:

Removing window fans from windows keeps the house warmer when it gets down into the 30's at night.

I need coffee.
Hot Coffe.
Need to wrap my hands around a nice hot mug of coffee....
Later
Jovi

|

It's Official

We are now under a Freeze Warning?
Supposed to get down in the 30's every night this week.

Time to take out the window fans and possibly see if the furnace works.
The days are georgeous though!!!


Topped my weekend off in a good way.
Found 3 good movies to watch last night so I could work.
(Yes, I need background noise when I crochet)
Seems as if it was John Grisham Night on HBO.



The Rainmaker - so so (I don't like Matt whats-his-face)
The Client - Made me cry at the end.
Runaway Jury. - Best I have seen in a while!
All very good, seemed to follow the actual books rather well but I must say that Runaway Jury was excellent.
Yeah, well anything with Gene Hackman in it is bound to be good, but it was the ending that 'got' me.
So it has been put on my It's A Keeper List.



And one of the two current afghans is now finished, and the other one is almost done, so I really got alot done.
Now I need to move on to the next 3 projects, I guess.
I just knew Sunday would be better than Saturday had been.



Note to Tammi:

I am sorry your Bucs lost.
My team lost Saturday and its always a letdown.
I hate it when that happens !



Later
Jovi

|

Things are looking up!

Weather is incredible!
Took a walk up to the park with my camera
Not too many good shots yet,but in another week or so......


Steelers Won!
Excellent Game !!!
Giants Won!



Later
Jovi

|

Saturday Night

Perfect ending to a perfect day!
Wait.
I didn't have a perfect day.
My team lost.
My boxes are still on the floor, too heavy for me to lift.
The cats are still on MY bed - no room for me
It rained and stayed in the 50's.
I had Cheese-Nips for dinner.
and no word from the Car God


Okay so taking a step back.....
I have ordered a pizza.
Extra Cheese, mushrooms, and black olives.
Should be here soon.
I talked with my mum three times today, and all were very good solid talks.
(sometimes she gets fuzzy with memory)
I managed to get in almost 4 hours of work on two different afghans, which brings them closer to completion,which brings me closer to getting paid.
I did get about 5 more boxes of my books organized.
I found all my previous writings from college, the pages aren't even yellowed yet!
My best friend Kevin, from Illinois called and we talked for about an hour.
(gotta recharge this phone)
Before the rains started I did get the front porch cleaned and almost winterized.


So all in all , it was not a bad day.
It was not a perfect day either.
But it could have been worse.
Could have been better.


I think maybe tomorrow I will opt for better.
Later!
Jovi

|

5:10
My Mountaineers Lost
to Virginia Tech....
13-19
Almost had it tho

Noonish
Okay so spending 2 hours in the garage surrounded by boxes of books, trying to catalog them all is NOT neccasarily a good project when you HAVE TO LIFT THEM BACK UP ON THE SHELVES BY YOURSELF.
I have way too many books.
No, that is not true.
I do not believe that one can have too many books.
I love to read and those worth re-reading again, I am not going to part with.
Plus I collect Antique Books and have several boxes of those.
My project is that I want a 'list' of what I actually have.
and I want them sorted back out by type and author.
(They got out of whack when I was .... oh hell, its a long story.
Never mind)
I got a good start back in July, but got off track with alot of things that I was dealing with and it got put to the side.




The Car God did not show up here last night
well he did, but he didn't.
He showed up only to get into lovely 'spat' with his beloved and took off for the night.
For those who don't know, I rent a house.
I live on the top floors, the basement is an apt and is rented out to a young couple with the two kids that I sometimes refer to.
I am the owner of the 3 cats, they own the dog, Daisy, that I sometimes write about.
They are really nice people but sometimes, as all young married folks do, they tend to argue and I sure as hell was not going to go knocking on the door asking about the car.
Sadly, their 'spats' are loud and easily heard, no matter what part of the house I am in ,unless I put the headphones on, so I knew NOT to GO knocking.
I stay OUT of IT!
Ignorance is Bliss?
I don't want to know.
I do not want in the middle of it.
So I stay away.



12:30... yeah, I need another cup of coffee.
Later
Jovi
PS Last weekend for the Cherry Top Dairy Bar for the season.

|

Hey!
Cassie-b's October Holiday List is up!!!
Here is the link: October Holidays


Later.

Jovi

|

Okay now that I am thawing out somewhat . . .
Yesterday morning I decided that it might be a wise decision to pull out my thick, warm down comforter for the winter and made up my bed. Looks so nice and warm....
Well apparently the cats thought so too last night because all 3 furry lumps slept on my bed. That is rare. One? yes, two? occasionally, but all 3? Never that I can recall.


And why is it that when you 'disturb' a cat, they look at you as if you have just totally disturbed their version of World Peace?
I mean how can you even disturb ANY creature that can fall back asleep in less than 13 seconds??? Like it is really going to be an issue. I don't think so.


Anyhoo,I was really glad to have the blanket as it did get down to 39 here in my area last night.... and NO... I didn't really want to get out of bed, but geeeeeeesh someone has to make coffee.


Later
Jovi
9:45

Please Note:


There are still 3 ice cream days left until the Cherry Top Dairy Bar closes for the season.


And its too chilly here this morning to be even thinking about Ice Cream!!!
Anyone for coffee?
Later. . .
Jovi

|

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