Wordless Wednesday

 (Why did the turkey cross the road?)

Renovation Time!

You may remember that I told you Bob was building new kitchen cabinets for Heather and Andrew.  They have a pretty small kitchen and the current cabinets weren't in good condition.  The plan is to do one section at a time, so the kitchen isn't totally unusable for a long time.  Bob had the upper cabinets made that went over the sink, so a week ago Saturday he and Andrew tore out the old ones.

Here's the before of that area.  For some reason, there was a big bulkhead and the cabinets were hung down low.  You can see that the counters could hardly be used because the cabinets were in the way.

The old cabinets came out quite nicely.

The bulkhead wasn't so easy though, and it made quite a mess!

Then drywalling had to be done.  Bob was at their house almost every day last week, putting up drywall, mudding the seams and sanding.

Andrew put this picture on Facebook last week as Cassie was very involved in "helping"!  Bob said everywhere he went, she was with him telling him "Grandpa, I can help you!"  He loved it.  :)

Andrew did some touch up painting after Bob finished the drywall so that this past Saturday the first set of cabinets could go up.

Bob built these ones to go up to the ceiling, giving them extra storage space.

Happy to have made this much progress!

You can see where the old cabinets used to hang, all the way down by the windowsill.  Heather is already appreciating being able to use the counter space!  Trim needs to be done here yet, but otherwise the uppers are done.  Next up is starting the base cabinets!

Spring Flooding

We live near the Grand River and this time of year, it always floods, mostly from the snow melting.  I always like to go down to the riverfront to see it, and although it's not nearly as flooded as it has been some years, it's interesting to see how high the water can be.

I went to the little riverfront park near us last week and this is how things are looking.

This is the bayou next to the river.  The road that runs next to it is closed, because as you can see, it's impassable!

It's kind of a bleak beauty I think, no leaves on the trees yet and water everywhere.

I always walk under the bridge to see how high the water is.

 

The water is usually quite a bit away from these trees.

On Saturday, I was driving along the river in a different area which shows more of the flooding.

The river is the area in the back.  The area with water in the front of the picture is usually a pasture with cows grazing there.

Here's another shot of that same area, you can see how much water is flooded from the river.

As I said, it's not nearly as bad as other years, but still interesting to see.

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I've heard from several people that steak in the air fryer is really good.  If we have steak, Bob usually grills it, but who wants to stand over a grill in snowy or rainy weather?  So, I decided to give it a try. This was such an easy way to cook a steak, and they came out tender and juicy. If you have an air fryer and don't feel like standing over a grill, this is a good alternative.

Air Fryer Ribeye Steak with Herb Butter

2 - 1 inch thick ribeye steaks
1 tablespoon olive oil
coarse salt
steak seasoning

Garlic Herb Steak Butter

4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon fresh, shopped parsley
1 teaspoon fresh, chopped oregano

Stir herbs and garlic into butter. Place on plastic wrap and form into a roll.  Place in refrigerator.

Preheat air fryer to 400 degrees.
Lightly coat each steak with olive oil on both sides, then season with salt and steak seasoning.
Place in air fryer basket and cook for 6-8 minutes on each side, depending on how done you want it.
Allow steaks to rest for 5-10 minutes before eating.
Right before serving, place a slice of herbed butter on the steak.

*leftover herbed butter can be frozen.  It can also be used on scrambled eggs, potatoes or vegetables.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Start of Spring Break

Alaina and Ruby are on Spring Break this week, and they were actually off last Thursday and Friday as well.  That gave us the chance to pick them up early on Friday and do some fun things with them.

We started by going out for frozen yogurt.  They love this place and it's a good way to welcome Spring, even though it was still pretty cold!

After that snack, we went to a nearby park where they've moved an old one room school house.  I love old buildings like this.

They agreed to let me take a few pictures of them, but wanted me to hurry because they were cold.   :)
Here's Alaina.

and here's Ruby.

Ruby was trying her hardest to pet a duck, but they were too quick.

When we got home we made some Easter egg nests.  They're Rice Krispy treats pressed into muffin tins to make a nest shape.  Once they cool you put candy eggs in them.  We used Cadbury mini eggs.
Alaina wasn't thrilled with buttering her hands to make the nests!

Here's some of the finished "nests".  They turned out cute!

They played a few rounds of Mario Kart with Grandpa.

Lately, we play this Yahoo game every time they come over.  Alaina won this round.  PS - The Pringles can is our marble container.  I think I need to get something better!  :)

The last time they came over, we watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  This time we watched the next one - Prince Caspian.

On Saturday, Bob left early.  He was spending the day at Heather and Andrew's place, tearing out old cabinets and preparing for the installation of the new ones.

We made some bunnies out of white jingle bells.

You glue a smaller bell onto a bigger one, draw eyes and a nose, make ears out of cardstock and glue on a pom pom tail.

Here's our finished bunnies!

The girls said that since Grandpa was at Aunt Heather's house, we should trade him for Cassie and take her for lunch.  Cassie thought that was a great idea!

We went to Chik-fil-A, their favorite place.

They had fun together, and then it was time to go home. As I was driving, they were talking about when they could see each other again.   Good times for all of us!

A Day in my Life - April

It's April!  I must admit that I'm glad to see it.  March was not a nice month in Michigan; so much wind and too much snow for me along with rain and tornadoes.  North of us, they are dealing with the effects of a terrible ice storm that has people still without electricity a week after the storm. There are so many trees down it looks like a hurricane went through. So, in comparison to that, I shouldn't complain about our weather.  I am looking forward to it warming up and the spring flowers blooming!
Here's how the first day of April went for me.

As usual, I started my day with a walk on the treadmill.

After getting ready for the day, I had yogurt and fruit for breakfast and spent some time reading my daily portion of The Bible in One Year by John MacArthur.  This day had a portion of Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs and Luke.  I'm enjoying reading through the Bible this way.

I had lots of cleaning tasks I wanted to get done this morning.

I started by putting sheets in the wash.

Then I cleaned the main bathroom and the tub.

I wiped down the stove and microwave.

and then I cleaned the refrigerator.

These are a few of my favorite cleaning products.  (Not getting paid for this, just passing it on in case you could use it). The Pink Stuff works well on the stove top and counters.  I have a Stainless Steel refrigerator, stove and dishwasher, and this Stainless Steel cleansor and polisher wipes off so easily, leaving no fingerprints or smudges behind!

When this was done, so was the laundry and then it was time for a lunch break.

After lunch I tried something I'd read about.  I found instructions to use your air dryer to dehydrate bananas.  It looked simple but it really wasn't.  You were supposed to flip them halfway through but they got really sticky. When they were done, they were just ok.  It's not something I'm doing again.  But, you don't know unless you try, right?

I spent some time in the afternoon working on these.  Three older men (91, 92, and 94) from the community made 2,700 of these little cars for our Samaritans purse, Christmas boxes for kids. This is the same thing we braid the jump ropes for that I've mentioned in the past.
These cars are oiled to protect the wood, and each car needs to be put in a zip-loc bag so it can go into the Christmas box.  A bunch of us brought home containers with 200 cars in to start packaging them.

Aren't they cute?  Some little kids will be thrilled to get them.
I got 100 of them bagged before I had to stop.

I left the house around 3 pm to pick up an old friend from the office I worked at.  The Director of Nursing there is retiring and they were having a retirement party for her at 4.
I had a great time seeing some of the doctors and a bunch of the nurses I used to work with.  I was talking so much that I forgot to take any pictures!

I got back home around 6.  Bob and I had leftover chili for supper.

After supper, he had me come outside to see these miniature daffodils which just started blooming!

We had a quiet, relaxing evening.  We watched a show that's new to us called The Repair Shop.  My friend Terri from Your Friend from Florida, told me about it.  It's a British show where people bring in things that are treasures to them because of their sentimental value, and the people from the shop fix them.  It's such a heartwarming show and watching it just makes you feel good.  It was a good way to end a good day!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Today's recipe is one that can be used two ways!  It's a great recipe for chicken, so easy to make and the chicken is very tasty.  But, for just two of us we end up with chicken for another meal.  The left over chicken can be cut into bite sized pieces and put into a casserole. So here's the recipe for both!

Italian Swiss Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Swiss cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut chicken breasts in half and place in 7x11 pan.
Place swiss cheese over chicken, covering each piece.
Combine soup and sour cream and pour over the Swiss cheese.
Mix the bread crumbs with the melted butter and spread over the top of the sauce.
Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, then remove foil and bake another 15 minutes.

For leftover chicken:

Chicken Shepherd Pie
Leftover chicken and sauce
1 can green beans, drained
Mashed potatoes (Can use Bob Evans mashed potatoes to make it easy)

Cut chicken into bite size pieces and put in casserole.  Pour remaining sauce over top.  
Place drained green beans over the chicken.
Spread mashed potatoes over the beans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Tip for Tuesday

We've made it to April!  We are all thinking about the joy of Spring arriving, warmer weather, flowers...  
But what about Christmas?  I really don't want to be thinking too much on that yet, but there is something I do all year around to prepare for Christmas.

This tote is always in our storage area in the basement.  But, it's not used for regular storage.

I keep Christmas gifts inside it.  Whenever we are in a fun store, traveling, or I see big sales, I check for possible gifts. I do stockings for our kids and grandkids.  If you have to do them all at once around Christmas, it's hard to find things and can be expensive.  This way I can get good deals and often find things that are not standard stocking stuffers.
I keep a little notebook in the tote and write what I get and who it's for so I can keep track.

So, that's my tip for today - keep your eyes open for gifts all year long and you'll be thankful you did it when the Christmas season comes around.

Butterflies are Blooming

Last week, Bob and I went to Frederik Meijer Garden and Sculpture Park.  Our daughter and SIL gave us a membership again this year and it's so nice to be able to enjoy different events they have going on, even when the garden section is under snow.
Every year they have a butterfly show in the 5 story, 15,000 square foot conservatory.  It's the largest tropical butterfly exhibit in the United States. There are over 60 species of butterflies exhibited from Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

As I mentioned, this is also a sculpture park, and you can see different sculptures as you drive in, outside in the gardens and inside as well.
This one is set outside the building and is a fun one.  You can see different faces on it, depending on the angle you are looking at it from.

Here's the conservatory from the outside.

As we walked to the conservatory, we came across this cute little sculpture.

Then we saw these cool cacti.

As soon as we entered the conservatory, we started seeing butterflies.

Can you see those spots of brilliant blue?  Those are our favorite butterflies; the Common Morpho from South America. They are so beautiful!

Here's a spot where the cocoons hang and you can see some butterflies hatching.

 

We enjoyed seeing some beautiful flowers in the conservatory too, even though the butterflies were the main draw this time.

When you leave the conservatory, you have to go through an air lock and check to be sure no butterflies are sneaking out on your clothes or bags.
This glass sculpture in on the ceiling in the cafe is by Dale Chihuly who is known for his blown glass sculpture.

I had this yummy sandwich and salad at the cafe.  Then it was time to head home.

We had a great time and both of us remarked about the beauty God has given us in His creation; from the mountains, canyons, trees, to the tiny things like flowers and butterflies of all colors!

Butterflies also remind us that just like the butterfly is completely changed when it emerges from the cocoon, we are also changed when we accept Christ!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"    2 Cor. 5:17