2015 in Retrospect...

What a year!  It began in January preparing for my first new knee in April followed by the second new knee in July.  It is amazing how all-consuming that has been.  It ended by moving from our two-year temporary school into our brand new, shining, much awaited and needed new school right before Thanksgiving!  It exhausts me to even think about "fleshing out" all that has gone into those 3 events.  So I won't.  HA!  Tension gone!

I did one of those Facebook test thingees that shows your life in review for the year.  It only showed posts about the knees!  The first picture are my knees right before replacement and the second are my "new" knees two weeks ago at my 9-month/6-month check.  Pretty amazing.  I am so thankful for my new knees.   Someone said it best, "They look so healthy now!"  That, they do!  Thank you, Doctors Smith and Gupta!  Now it's time to start using them!

The third picture is of my brand new room in the brand new school.  It is so wonderful.  It feels as comfy as being at home...almost.  Cozy, clean, fresh, perfect!

Happy 2016 New Year everyone!

Before

After

My new Music Room at Fernbank ES!

Remember...

"Once the 'what' is decided, the 'how' always follows. We must not make the 'how' an excuse for not facing and accepting the 'what.'"

“You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.”

“I don't wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.”  

“Every mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied.”  

“Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up. ”  

“Order is the shape upon which beauty depends.”

“Of course imagination is the beginning of creation. Without imagination there can be no creation.”  
 

 Pearl S. Buck quotes

Cornbread Success!

I've really had a hankering for some cornbread lately.  So I bought some organic popcorn and milled it into cornmeal with my Nutrimill grinder.  It made the most beautiful golden goodness I have ever seen!  I then went in search of a healthy cornbread recipe… I know, I know… healthy cornbread?  Most recipes are full of fat or oil and a proper serving size is only as big as your thumbnail!  But by the wonders of Google...ta dah!  I found the perfect recipe for my golden goodness.  The link for the recipe is here:

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/18/totally-addictive-cornbread/

The only change I made was that I used Featherweight no sodium baking powder which reduced 

the sodium to only 300 per serving.  It makes nine good-sized portions with each serving having

166 calories and 30 g of carbohydrates which is equal to two grain servings.

To all those who see need and pray...

I say a heartfelt thanks..   We each must live the life for which God in His wisdom designs us.  I had the worst fibromyalgia  flare in the entire twenty years I have had to deal with this horrible disease.  From the time I left rehearsal at 6:00 until I got home at 7:00, I thought an invisible Mack truck had hit me.  I could hardly walk.  Every muscle, every bone, every joint in my body hurt and throbbed with pain.  Upon awakening the next morning, both my ankles, my knees, and my right hand were visibly swollen.  I have no idea other then God's mercy how I made it to school and through rehearsal the next day.  A dear, sweet Christian sister who brought her class to Music saw me and exclaimed, "Oh, Robin!"  I asked her to just pray and she did.  Several others who saw me in turn offered up prayer and good will.  I made it through.  I had no parent chaperone for the rehearsal that day.  Fifty nine 11 year olds on my own.  After just being honest with them about where I was, they were as good as gold, helpful carrying this and that, and quiet during stage direction.  I made it through.  The next morning I was so much better...and I made it through that day.  By this morning, you would never know I battle this horrible disease.  A flare can hit at anytime anywhere for any reason.  This one may have been triggered by finishing a round of antibiotics for a respiratory illness or just by the general stress of work.  Only the good Lord knows.  But by God's mercy, I have and will make it through...because we are promised  in James 1:12-14, " God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation...God never tempts anyone...temptation comes from our own desires which entice us and drag us away..."  [like a dangling bait on a fish hook].  So, the Lord decided I needed a testing.  He made this life.  He is responsible for this life.  It is His to do with as He chooses.  My desire is to be where He wants me to be, when He wants me to be there, doing His good will and not allow myself to be enticed away from Him.   And by His mercy, I will make it through.

One of the best feelings in the world...

Is the complete and utter satisfaction engendered by a successful DIY! 
I have been on a seek and destroy mission this summer to get rid of the clutter.  Now most people who have visited my home would probably  think of it as comfortably cozy rather than cluttered ..........I hope.  But the closets. 
Aye, the closets. 
There is a shutting down - a weight - that happens in my brain when things in the closets are out of control.  So, after six and a half weeks of summer break, I am happy to report that all four closets as well as my desk drawer and sewing machine drawer are neat and tidy .  Ah, what JOY!  What a euphoric contentment of balance, knowing that all is right with the world now that the hidden spaces are organized!  It makes my brain very happy.  (big, cleansing sigh)  So.  Time to conquer the next problem.

Over the years, I have been very satisfied with how my jewelry has been stored and displayed on tie racks in my closet.  But there is a problem.  Since moving to my current home, my necklaces tarnish horribly!  Hmpf.  As I have long stored my pins in nifty hanging canvas bags, I got to thinking and wondering if they made something for necklaces and bracelets.  GOOGLE!  And do you know what I found out?  They DO!  Then I had to exercise a little (ugh) self control.  I could go to the Container Store and buy a couple OR order them off Amazon for a whole lot cheaper (using the trade-in credit I received for the DVD's, etc. I had cleared out of the sunroom closet) and wait patiently for a few days.  I am happy to say, patience triumphed. 

I received them yesterday and got busy today implementing the plan.  One thing the ones at the Container Store had were pockets at the bottom.  The less expensive ones on Amazon didn't. 

So I added some lovely fabric ones with my trusty sewing machine and  I'm quite please with the result.  These pockets can hold items like my shawl stick that can't hang .  I discovered by rearranging my pins in the two older pin hangers that I had room to put coiled necklaces!  Also, the two older hangers are longer than the newer ones and so by sandwiching them,  the necklaces hanging below the bottom of the shorter ones are protected!  I chose to only add pockets to one side so I could have the pockets facing each other creating a flat outer side. 

I am one  happy camper.      

(contented sigh).  :>D

I've had it! I will not be held hostage...

That's right...uh huh...you heard me!  I am sick and tired of being held hostage by the EXORBITANT and continually rising costs of laundry soap!  WHY does it keep going up?!?  So...what am I gonna do about it, you may ask?  Well, today, I DID it!  Inspired by my little neicey-in-law, I made my own.  Now hold on, before you start thinking I have gone off the deep end...I did my research thoroughly online before beginning.  Do you actually know what is in laundry soap (or what is supposed to be in laundry soap)?  Well, as it turns out, only FIVE ingredients for the purest, most economical, sweetest smelling laundry soap in the world!  And it only cost 2.5 CENTS PER LOAD!!!  My recipe made enough to last over a year for $16.08 with tax.  And the ingredients are available at your local grocery store (I went to Walmart for added savings).  It only took me about 1 hour to make it up and the hardest part was grating the Zote Soap.  Everything else was just mixing the ingredients together.  I was a little reticent that this could clean up to my standards (which are pretty high) even though all the blogs I read online said it would.  So...I did 3 loads and, OH MY WORD!  Did they ever get nice and clean and smelling fresh...with using only 1 tablespoon of the soap...you heard me...ONE TABLESPOON per extra large load!  I am in frugal heaven!  One thing I really liked was that during the wash cycle, I felt the water and it was nice and slippery, soapy although with very little suds.  Then the biggest surprise was during the rinse cycle - the water was clear!  I've always been one to use the "2nd rinse" cycle as I want to make sure the clothes are nice and free of soap residue.  No more 2nd rinses for me!  I know you're dying to know what the recipe is, aren't you?!  Here it is:

Homemade Laundry Soap

 

1, 4 lb 12 oz box Borax, (2.15 kg or 76 oz) found in the laundry aisle at Walmart

 

1, 4 lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda, (1.81 kg) found in the cooking aisle at Walmart

 

1  box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda, 55 oz (3 lb 7 oz) found in the laundry aisle at Walmart

 

1 -  Multi-purpose Oxygen Cleaner, 56 oz (3.5 lb) (Home Sense Kroger brand) found in the detergent isle at Kroger OR 2 small containers of Oxy Clean or store brand Oxy Clean

Makes approximately 2.5 gallons (640 Tablespoons).  So mix in a container big enough to stir well.

**Use 1 Teaspoon-1 Tablespoons per load. I know that does not seem like enough but this recipe does not have fillers like the store bought detergent so you only need that small amount.  I have found the following does well:

 
1 Teaspoon for small, 2 Teaspoons for medium and 1 Tablespoon for large loads

This detergent is fairly mild smelling, it is not over powering. If you love a strong scent you may have to add  laundry crystals to each load. You can find laundry crystals in the detergent isle.  

 

$2.48 = Arm & Hammer Baking Soda

$3.24 = Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda

$3.99 = Kroger Multi-purpose Oxygen Cleaner

$3.38 = Borax
$13.09
    1.05 tax
$14.14 = 640 Tablespoons = 2.5 cents per load!

 

I'M FREE! FREE AT LAST! 

Coronation of a Queen...

Last night we had a wonderful awards ceremony and officers installation at my TOPS group. We also crowned our first "queen" in a long time! (definition...TOPS Chapter Queen = the one who has lost the most weight while reaching her goal in the past year). Our theme for the evening was "A Mad Hatters Tea Party with Our Queen" and everyone made tea party hats. At the end the people voted with favorite hats won prizes. It was such a fun evening and I am so thankful for everyone in this group. A special thank you for all the officers and others who showed up early to help set up and all those who stayed after cleaning up. We were once again graced by the hilarious Bill Jackson as our MC. He can make any script so much fun! Thank you, Bill! Valeria went over the top making floral table decorations which were given as door prizes at the end. They added that special touch to the tables that just "made" the whole thing look so authentic. Pastel tablecloths, real china tea cups from my collection, a giant tea pot with which we served everyone in the chapter as a commitment toast to a good 2013...and a wonderfully regal Queen...here's to you Queen Nancy Chesna! You inspire us all! Thank you all for your support and major generosity. You mean the world to me!



 

Queen Nancy Chesna



New post...

Musings...

Fernbank Follies. Number 12. The last in our current building as the building will be razed next year to rebuild into a larger, more current, up-to-code version while we are re-housed at another school. How do I feel about that? Very co...nflicted...It will be wonderful having a new stage, a larger venue...but so many memories on those old "boards". How do I feel? Well, the children will ever be the wonderful children that have passed over those boards for all these many years. How do I feel? Just imagine about 12 third grade boys rockin' it "gangnum style" as the closing act and then one by one skipping back to me at the sound booth each handing me a pink tulip. How do I feel? WONDERFUL!!!

Just like you're 'sposed to...

Little Charlie comes up to me today, throws his little first grade arms around me, gives me a BIG hug and says, "You look so skinny...just like you're spose to." I say, "Thank you, Charlie, that's a real encouragement to me!". He replies, "Well you do, you really do!". Then a final squish and skips down the hall to the gym. That boy is going to make a really good husband one day!

Happy 2013!

I love starting a new year...this holiday, candles have just really made me happy, peaceful, cozy, warm...words that can't really express the feeling but will have to do. 

I spent this morning putting the decorations away and arranging my FIVE (yay!) new candle presents on my mantle. Then taking pictures of them and culling pictues from other sources for my desktop backgrounds (which I found if you put them all in a folder, you can have them shuffle!! double yay!). 

Here's my own from this morning...which is your favorite?

 

Lolly Belle Rose and her “necklace”

Lolly Belle Rose is an escape artist!  Since she was a tiny baby puppy, I have called her collar her “necklace”.  She, for the most part, enjoys wearing her necklace.  However, it must be removed for the dreaded bath day.  Lolly does not like baths but even more does not like to be dirty.  Getting a bath has always been a bit traumatic but she looks forward to putting her necklace on after her bath because it means she is totally dry and officially DONE with all the torment that it entails – getting wet, mama getting shampoo everywhere it should be and a few places it shouldn’t be, rinsing it all out, drying off, mama squeezing her paws in the towel to get the extra water out (an especial dislike of Queen Lolly’s!), clipping unsightly hair here, there and everywhere, and finally a blow dry.  After all of that, Lolly snatches her “good girl” cookie and jets away before I can catch her and do something else undignified to her personage!  So one day after we had finished a particularly arduous bath day ending with the putting on of the necklace, she disappeared for quite a while.  I wondered where she had gotten to but supposed she was either sulking somewhere or taking a nap after the ordeal.  To my surprise, she trots in after a good length of time, plops down in front of me to show me her “handiwork”.  She figured out how to unbuckle her necklace and came to show me what she had done!  She was very proud of herself!  I started chuckling and remembering back to when she was a tiny one and figured out how to unclip her leash from her collar by working it carefully between her paws and teeth.  She sat there proudly as if saying, “See, mama, I can do it MYself!”  At eleven and a half years old, she still plays and acts just like the puppy she was those many years ago.  My little minx that I adore!

"You have decided the length of our lives..." Job14:5

Lots of prayers, please?  My dearest friend who has been like a mother to me for the past 30 years has been in Hospice Atlanta for the past 6 weeks.  Every day she gets closer to the time when she will pass over.  I'm so glad that I am off school so I can spend these days with her.  Yesterday was a good day...she was able to get out of the bed and sit in her wheelchair in the doorway to the garden outside her room, smell the grass being cut, feel the gentle breeze on her face, hear the birds sing.  Today she was too tired to try it.  But I was able to coax her to eat some supper.  Her other friends and I occasionally catch glimpses of her feisty, spicy self and laugh with joy.  Yesterday, it was her in a barely audible voice warning  the six hospice workers who were putting her in the wheelchair, "My friend [me] knows how to pick good lawyers..."  Today, it was her giving "the eyebrow" warning to her best friend who is like a sister to her when Florence felt she had been a bit "cheeky". I look to those instances as gifts from the Lord. Last minute treasures to hold in my memory...last week watching a whole movie with her, getting her to eat a quarter of a peanut butter sandwich made on her favorite bread with her favorite DFM peanut butter...this week, a shared garden doorway communion, a raised eyebrow that I know so well. We do not know when our time nor anyone else's will be. All we know for sure is that we must not neglect to "seize the day" for this IS the day the Lord hath made...and I will be glad in it.

Hot diggity doggity!

"Bike Log" 2012:  I got my Exerpeutic Foldable Semi-Recumbant Bike set up and my first workout in!  This is a REALLY cool exercise bike as it puts the work on the quads intead of the side hip muscles and bursa - which is where I got inflammation because of not conditioning up for real bike riding last year.  I LOVE it! 

I went 12 minutes, 2.5 miles, on setting 1 as I am trying not to be stupid again and do too much too soon!  AND I did it in the comfort of my own living room watching TV this morning!  It kept my heart rate around 130 which is good for starting after 9 months off from riding!  YAY!  Btw, did I mention it takes up a tiny amount of space and collapses down to roll into a closet when guests come?  WooHOO!!!

P.S.  Here's the website for it...I must have gotten one of the last ones at Walmart online as they are now out of stock online.  You can get it elsewhere, however.  Don't be put off by Amazon's one review.  This is a GREAT bike...so far!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Exerpeutic-Space-Saver-Semi-Recumbent-Bike-with-Pulse/15657479

Ringing in 2012 RIGHT!

I wanted to start this year off  HEALTHY....so I invited friends over to an old-fashioned (but healthily cooked with turkey broth) vegetable supper of...


Mustard greens, green beans, black-eyed peas, carrots with nutmeg,
okra, corn with peppers and onions, sauteed squash and onions,
sliced 'maters, roasted chicken and roasted boneless pork...

and Healthy Cherry Crisp for dessert!

After supper,  we played Carcasonne (one of my new games I got for Christmas)...a GREAT time!

I don't believe in setting New Year's Resolutions.  However, I do believe that setting reasonable goals can be very helpful - regardless of the time of year.  After carefully and prayerfully considering potential goals, they should be reevaluated often for efficacy with subsequent readjustment if needed.  :>D  Can you guess that eating more veggies is one of my newest goals?
 
Healthy Cherry Crisp

Recipe By     :  Robin Ferguson
Serving Size  : 4    

NOTE: Be SURE to use "No Sugar Added" cherry pie filling
rather than "Lite" as the calories are twice as much in the "Lite"!  
I used Comstock brand bought at Kroger.
Amount     Measure              Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------        ------------             --------------------------------
  20           ounces                cherry pie filing, sugar free -- 1 can, Comstock  
  12           chunks                canned pineapple chunks in juice
  2             tablespoons        Brummel & Brown, diet margerine
  4             tablespoons        splenda

  2             tablespoons        old-fashioned rolled oats
  2 1/2       tablespoons        Baking Mix, Whole Wheat, Hodgson Mill
  1             tablespoon          splenda
  2             tablespoons        Brummel & Brown, diet margerine  

1. Divide cherry pie filling equally between 4 small, 2 cup baking dishes;
    Place 3 chunks pineapple into each serving;
    Put 1/2 T Brummel & Brown in center of each;
    Sprinkle 1 T Splenda over top.

2. Mix oats, baking mix, and splenda;
    Mash in B & B and knead into small roll (2 inches long);
    Divide into 4 equal pieces;
    Divide individual pieces into thumbnail sized dollops and place on top.

3. Bake at 350 for approx. 20-30 minutes until bubbly and slightly browned.
                                     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 154 Calories; 6g Fat (33.2% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 152mg Sodium. 

Exchanges: 
1 Fruit, 
1 Fat, 
1/2 Starch or 40 opt. cal.  
(You can double the amount of topping to increase this to 1 starch.)

       
       

Lolly Belle Rose and the Candles

Last year, tired of all the mess and allergies, I decided to start burning candles in my fireplace instead of wood.  One evening while relaxing in my favorite chair, I noticed that Lolly was sitting in front of the fireplace gazing at the candles for a long time.  I wondered what was going through her sweet little mind but didn’t think too much more about it until the next evening. 

I was working on the computer and had not yet lit the candles when she came over, sat down beside me, looked up and started barking at me.  I asked her what she wanted.  She stared at me.  So, I went back to work at the computer.  Again, she started barking but this time in what I call her “bossy bark”.  You know the kind of bark I mean?  The kind of bark you just can’t ignore that seems to go straight through your brain like a lightning bolt!  As my ears were still ringing from the volume of her vocalization, I looked at her and impatiently inquired, “What do you want?”   She very pointedly looked back over her shoulder to the fireplace.  Perplexed, I questioned, “Lolly, do you want me to light the candles?”  She started grinning from ear to ear, jumped up and ran over to the fireplace to wait.  I retrieved the lighter and began to kindle the candles one by one.  When I had finished and closed the protective screen, she peacefully settled down for a stint of doggy contemplation!   Needless to say, when the weather gets cold or rainy, candle-gazing has become one of our favorite new traditions!

(sigh)

Certain things just make me happy...like my powder room...that's all...just wanted to share...

BBBB 2011

My adoptive family all have their birthdays during the summer with the exception of one who has his in April like me. So each summer I do the Quadruple B - otherwise known as the BBBB which stand for "The Bolen Beaudoin Birthday Bash". It is one of the most fun things I do every summer!

I LOVE (with a capital L, O, V, and E) setting a beautiful table and making up recipes for a special meal. I spend weeks designing the look I want and then adapting or creating recipes to meet the desires and needs of these loved ones. Each year we rotate who gets to choose the theme. This year's theme chosen by Margaret was Mexican/Pasta.

This year, I wanted a clean, crisp look to the table. So I found a blue and white pinstripe twin sheet at a thrift shop that looked just right with my dishes. Instead of layering colors as I have done in the past, I went with simple white accents, white roses, white napkins. It looked so pretty with my dishes and for a luncheon turned out nicely.

I then developed the menu keeping in mind my dietary needs as well as theirs. While it was not a low-calorie meal, it was definitely MUCH lower calorie than what the "full-leaded" versions of these dishes would be! For example, instead of the standard 586 calories in regular chocolate cheesecake, my version that used non-fat creme cheese had only about 300. Still a bit high but it IS a birthday dessert after all! The texture was more a nice thick, gooey mousse-yness rather than cakey and the flavor was EXCEEDINGLY intense chocolate! So rich. My secret was at the end of mixing it, I decided to throw another bit of DARK chocolate powder in...made all the difference!

Mexican Three Cheese Pasta Bake was our main dish entree accompanied by a Corn Pico de Gallo and a spinach salad with dragon fruit and a blackberry balsalmic dressing.

 

I am a contented homemaker. (SIGH) I sent all the leftovers home with the birthday crowd except for one serving of pasta which I already put in the freezer for another special day for me and one, ONLY one, serving of cheesecake which I may or may not save for later (grin). I saved a lot of the Corn Pico de Gallo as that is something I can have every day...a WONDERFUL summer accompaniment to almost any meal. If you would like any of the recipes, just pop me an email and I will send them to you.