My poor aching back

Can I just say again that getting older isn't for wimps! Last Monday I slipped coming up the stairs and I managed to keep from falling but wrenched my back pretty good.  I took it easy and by Friday I was back to my usual old self. We went to two Christmas markets on Saturday and really had a great afternoon/evening. Then Sunday I was loading the dishwasher and twisted around to the sink....next thing I knew I was on my knees in horrible pain. I think I have pinched a nerve because now my back aches, I have shooting pain up my left leg and my feet keep going to sleep. I can barely get out of the bed or up from a chair without crying. I had not left the apartment since Saturday so today I walked to the grocery store just to get out. It took me over an hour to make this trip and it's less than a block there. I'm sure people thought I was nuts clutching my cart and wincing with every step.  We're flying home in a week so that's a 8 hour flight and I can't stand the thought of going in this much pain. What can I do? I'm taking ibuprofen twice a day and there's no sense going to the dr over here because they believe in natural healing aka no good drugs!

Good news is I've had some stitchy time because frankly I can't do much else. I finished Eveline Cunningham from Blacrkbird Designs and it's just gorgeous. The colors are beautiful, muted and just pretty. It was a bonus pattern in the Loose Feathers Winter Book from 2011. I'll post pictures later when i can finally get around and find the camera. I started And To All A Good Night which is all a LF by BBD but I think it's been in my stash for over 10 years now.  Surely no one else ever does that?  I have wanted to stitch it since day one but it just kept getting pushed back into the stash until I saw it last week and it just said "stitch me"!  I have also joined Joy over at The Busy Stitcher and you really should check out her blog if you haven't already.....anyhoo, I got distracted but she's proposed that for 2013 that we not acquire any new stash until we earn it by stitching up patterns we already have. Ex: you want a new pattern that cost $10 so you need to stitch 10 things before you make that purchase or whatever works for you.  I'm thinking this is gonna be a great way for me to finally be inspired to stitch all these wonderful charts I already own! Now Mark said something like "I'll believe it when I see it" and something like " you know if I had suggested that you've have gotten mad at me so glad your friend came up with the idea". So I had to point out all the guns he owns, the fact he can only shoot one at a time and can't even own a gun in this country!!!! Silly boy should know better than to try to win an argument with me about who owns more stuff.  I used to be able to say all my charts, threads, fabby, ect wold never even come close to what he had tied up into his hobbies but with the $$$$ these days for charts I don't think that line of reasoning applies anymore.

I promise to post some pics soon of the markets. We've been to 4 of them so far and I haven't bought the first thing. I'm holding out for the one in Stuggart because there's a guy there that sells puts sheep and I need a few more for my flock. LOL

Only a week late but Thankful none the less

Celebrating what is truly an American Holiday overseas is very different but I managed.  There was no turkey to be had and I have since learned it's because turkey is a Christmas tradition in Germany.  Also I would need to go to a farm to pick my turkey out and then they would slaughter it for me.  WTF?  I'm sorry I know people nowadays like to "know" what they are eating and do all organic but I ain't one of them. All my meats come on a foam tray with plastic wrap over them and that's just how it is.  So long story short, I roasted a whole chicken not quite the same but we did ok.  I also made dressing and candied sweet potatoes plus Mark's favorite chess pie! I cooked all day long because don't know I have mentioned it yet, the oven can only hold one pan at a time.  It's actually quite funny because the dishwasher can't even do that.  Now the only thing I hate worse than ironing is washing dishes.  My family knows that you never, ever give me anything that must be hand washed because I'll throw that sucker away and never blink an eye.  So said Thanksgiving feast required lots of hand washing pans but I mustered thru it.  Everything smelled heavenly and I was thinking that I should have invited the young couple from upstairs to experience an American Thanksgiving; that is until I tasted the food!  The chicken was fine because you really can't mess that up but the dressing tasted like I dumped a whole lot of salt in it and by a lot I mean A LOT!!!!  And I might have also burned the sweet potatoes because I forgot I slid them in the oven while we were admiring the chicken.  Good news is the pie was delicious and I made my very first, from scratch pie crust. I mean why learn to make a pie crust when you can get good ones at the store, am I right?  Mark's a Pie Man from way back and I can't believe that he ate those crusts without one complaint.  Not any more!  I'm a firm believer in homemade pie crust now. Of course, I'm not a huge pie lover but put a cake in front of me and all bets are off.  See we just balance each other out so well after 25 years.  LOL!

I wanted to show you what I found at the store and you tell me if you've ever seen these in our stores?  They're made in America and I've never seen this brand before! The back even explains how to roast a marshmallow which I found very funny.

 

I finished the guestroom and I'm pretty happy with it.  And more importantly we balanced my decorating budget and turned in all the receipts.  I not only furnished the entire apartment from kitchen cabinets to lighting to linens to everything but I also still had $23 Euros left over!  I rocked that budget and made every dime (euro) count.  So here's shots of the finished place:

Guestroom

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I did a little holiday decorating because I just couldn't stand it!  We're going home for 3 weeks so not much need for holiday decor at either home but I needed it!

 

Entry Hall

 

Living Room

 

Coffee Table

 

Living Room Doorstop/Stool

 

And finally the tree on the bedside table in the Master Bedroom.  I don't think the keys show up but this one is done in hearts and keys

 

Thanks for stopping in to see me and I promise more funny stories later this week.  Now I'm off to walk the cat and get cash from the bank.  My dang card quit working because I did the stupid customer trick of putting it in the same pocket as my cell phone which of course, wiped out the encoding on the back of the card.  I knew that would happen and still did it....silly girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekends never will be the same again!

Forgive me for my absence but I've just not been in bloggy sort of mood lately. Nothing major just hanging  out reading everyone's blogs but not really wanting to update my own.

As you know we are living in an apartment over here and that's taken some adjustment time for all of us.  Clarice can no longer play with her favorite toys aka: golf ball or marbles, I have to put on shoes and clothing along with brushing my hair to just take the garbage out and poor Mark has to hunt for parking space on the street every day but the worst is Thin Walls! Yep that's right boys and girls, really thin, non sound proof, college apartment day walls.  The single lady next door has a new boyfriend that I know all about! I swear the first time I thought "oh no that's not what I'm hearing" but by the 4th time yesterday, I was begging Mark to please, please take me somewhere just anywhere but here. Our living room shares the common wall with her bedroom and she's quite outspoken. Yes, I said 4th time, and Yes, I'm jealous but more importantly I'm wondering how I'm gonna look her in the eye the next time we meet on the stairs. This isn't a large complex just 8 apartments total. I also wonder if I should offer her antibiotics to treat that raging bladder infection that will be caused from having that much sex in a short amount of time....LOL.  This is TMI in the extreme!!!!!!

Now on to more serious things like day trips, antiking jaunts, cooking and stitching.....
I lost my stitching mojo for quite a few days but found it again on Thursday when I discovered Parenthood on tv and watched 3 seasons worth over 2 days.  I had never seen it before but it's really a good show and I can see why it's won so many awards.  We are using Roku to access American tv and I love it because I can turn on mindless tv with no commercials then stitch away. Now the bad part is that older seasons of shows are free but current shows cost $1.99 per episode to watch so we're only paying for Mark's fave Fringe currently. Now after the first of the year we will be getting Sherlock, Downtown Abby and White Collar because those are on my must see list so I've had to start budgeting for those already.  I have really tried watching the German tv shows but I just don't know enough German to follow along with so I get frustrated which is not a good thing when you are just looking for mindless entertainment.  I finished Pineberry Lane's Autumn on Marigold Lane and a quickie BBD Noel plus started E Cunningham from BBD.  I love the muted colors and how they blend nicely with Snowgarden so I'll probably leave it up year round on my sampler wall here in the apartment even though it will have a reindeer stitched on it.  The quickie stitch BBD Noel is not doing much for me because the colors just aren't right so I've got to figure out what I'm going to do with it.  I think I may finally try walnut dye to age it and hopefully make it more prim looking than it is right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 



That's all for today boys and girls because Clarice is insisting that we play a little game of hide and seek before I start cleaning house.  She's so funny because she will hide and jump out to tag you on the back of the leg then run off.  She totally understands the game! Here's one of her new places to hide in the closet and I can't tell you how many times I have shut her in there without knowing it.

 

And finally here is her helping Mark this weekend while he was trying to get some work done

 

Wednesday Blahs

It's a cloudy day here and not much going on around our place.  Mark got home Saturday morning and has just been really jet lagged ever since.  The poor guy is zonked and he turned 50 yesterday so that's not helping matters.  Yep, my honey is 50 and we've been married exactly half his lifetime now! WOW!  I really think he should call up his old frat brothers and collect on that "They'll never make it" bet!!!!  We'd be billionaires on the odds that they were laying.  Anyway, we didn't do anything special for his day but this is the year that he gets to buy a Porsche per our agreement of 5 years ago.  I so wish that was a possibility right now for him even more than he realizes.  I hate that he's worked so hard all these years  and gave up his car 4 years ago to get our finances in better order since it looked like we'd both be out of a job with him in automotive and me in banking.  It breaks my heart because he truly loves sports cars and the engineering skills that built them so much.  I really hope when this adventure of living overseas is done that we'll be ready for him to buy a new one!!!!!
I plan on us going to visit the Porsche museum in Frankfort this weekend if he's up to it.  He's been once a few years ago but I've never had the chance.  The weather is suppose to be nice so it would make a great little day trip for us.

I didn't even cook the birthday boy dinner last night because I had a nagging headache.  We did the very European thing of fresh bread, cheese, sausage and fruit for dinner along with wine and beer.  However, I did cook the night before a recipe from Donna Davis that was outstanding! She and Morgan made it one night for me and I begged and begged for the leftovers and the recipe.  Now it got crammed into my recipe box and I promptly forgot about it until Monday afternoon.  Does anyone else do that, get a recipe and then forget completely about it until they stumble across it many moons later?  My box is crammed full of tidbits that I've cut from magazines, newspapers, collected from family and friends only to be crammed into the abyss never to be seen again or at least not for a long time.  I get into a rut of making the same old, same old stuff but since I now have time on my hands I've been trying to find at least one new thing a week to make.  I enjoy cooking....no I really do especially now that I'm not working outside the home.  So without further a do here's:

 Donna Davis' Chicken Pecan Pasta

1/3 stick butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1TBSP olive oil
Boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into cubes

Cook over medium heat until chicken is browned

Add 3/4 cup chopped pecans
3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cups Penna Pasta, cooked

Put a lid on the skillet and let simmer until cooked down, stir often

That's it and it's super easy but oh so delicious.  And I know you're thinking pecans and tomatoes but they are just amazing together and this comes from the woman that doesn't eat tomatoes!  I also broiled fresh brussel sprouts and made a peach cobbler so Mark was a happy boy! 

Today I'm making the chocolate pumpkin bread as a surprise for Mark and I'm going to figure out how in the heck to make sourdough bread.  That's one of his favorite breads and we're having trouble finding any over here so I'm off to search the web.  I have to roast my own pumpkin since there is no pie filling or even canned pumpkin around here but I've discovered that it's really easy to do.  I kinda think I'm actually learning to cook now since I can't depend on finding convenience foods over here.   I think of it more as the way my grandmothers cooked, making do with what they had, learning what to substitute and that fresh foods just taste better.  I do miss my microwave more than I thought I would but hey you just can't have it all.  Hope you all have a great day and that you'll be inspired to try a new recipe this week for your loved ones.

Just the funnies and latest adventures

I told y'all last time that we have been battling the flu but we've finally turned the corner and beat that bugger.  I swear it's been a beast and just when we thought we were done with it, one of us would relapse.  Mark is back in the states this week so I have taken advantage of that and scoured the entire place down so take that germs!  If it didn't run when I walked towards it (aka Clarice) then it got bleached and Mr Clean doused. 

And along those lines I mentioned that we had a few laughs during our illness and promised to share, so here ya go.
We were drinking lots of fluids and have a limited number of cups and glasses so I suggested that we use the only 3 plastic colored cups we have to keep from getting a fresh glass every time.  I told him that you're green and mine is blue.  Seems easy enough except for the 100Million questions every time we went into the kitchen to get a drink.

Him: Honey, is my cup blue or green?
Me: Yours is green...no wait, blue...nope, yours is green
Him:  Are you sure?
Me:  Yep, yours is green
Me: But wait we always give you blue since it matches your eyes and you look so good in blue.  Yep, your cup is blue
Him:  I really thought mine was green
Me: You're right yours is green because the blue cup was dirty when I gave you the first drink.

This went on and on with us for a couple of days from both of us until Mark finally said "Can I switch to the red cup so we can be sure who's is who's"  OMG! That would have been too freaking simple and never occurred to me.

So fast foward to later that week when we started feeling better and I was starting to banish those germs.  I'll throw away the old toothbrushes and here's our new ones.  You guessed it they were green and blue!

Him: So my toothbrush is green?
Me: Nope, yours is blue and mine is green
Him: Ok, got it

And just close your eyes and imagine later that same day....I'm in the bathroom and want to brush my teeth.

Me: So is mine blue or green?
Him:  Yours is green, no blue, no green....I can't remember
Me: Well I'm using green
Him: Ok then I'll use blue

And the blue/green battle is still being waged at our house.  I'm sure if Clarice could talk she'd have yelled  "Listen here old people, Dad's toothbrush is blue and Mom's is green!  And I don't ever, ever want to have to listen to you debate it again"

Now I went to my favorite antik store this week since Mark's out of the country and I have to entertain myself.  LOL!  I was so good and only bought a couple of vintage frames for my stitching so without futher a do here they are: Elizabth Jane by BBD and this frame is just perfect.  It's silver and chippy and just really set off this delicate jewel.

 

Pumpkin Farm by BBD and done for my momma.  I like this frame because it's very thin and ore rustic looking and it fits perfectly into my fall display in the entrance hall

 

Not a vintage frame but a new one that fits Seaside Retreat rather well.  I'd like to distress this frame to look more like driftwood but don't have the paints over here yet to do that.

 

 

Here's the living room wall that I've started with my stitching

 

Well Mark will be home Saturday so I'm off to a little more retail therapy today so hope everyone has a great day and that I've given you a new insight to the crazy minds within the Harris' household.

 

 

 

Funny thing happened on the way to the bathroom

For those of us of a certain age, we know that getting up several times a night to go potty is not unusual.  The key is to never, ever open your eyes because you don't want to actually be awake. Those of us that share bathrooms with the male species know that sometimes a wet bottom is to be expected and he'll catch heck about it the next morning.  But this week we have been battling flu and me the bladder infection which have resulted in a lot more bathroom trips than normal in the wee hours....yes pun intended!  I stumbled out of bed Sunday and headed to the potty only to run slap dab, head on into the closed bedroom door! What the hell! Why is the door closed?  Mark immediately wakes up and shouts "What's  wrong? What just happened?" and other misc things. Now, I'm still trying very hard to Not Wake Up and remember I was dying because I was so sick....All I could do was cry and keep repeating " We don't close doors in our house" seriously I must have said it three or four times while struggling to open the door. By the time I got back in bed, Mark was laughing his ass off  and the lights were on so we just called it a night and put the coffee on.  So my advic is next time nature calls in the middle of the night ladies, please make sure the door is open before you try to walk thru it.  Mark is still chuckling about it but I fail to see the humor since I now have a bruised toe  in addition to everything else!

More illness related stories to follow as we're freaking hilarious when we're sick. It's kinda a who's on   first type of humor

Whole lotta nothing going on

Wow, it's been 10 days since I last posted a we haven't done anything except fight this horrible flu bug....yes both of us.  We even cancelled our trip to Switzerland because we were convinced that driving that far from home (only 2 hours) would kill us.  We have coughed, sneezed, complained (him only) and ate soup until we're both about to go mad.  He finally went back to work Tuesday and what a blessed day that was because I had my first ever international doctor experience!  Seriously, you just don't go see a dr for something simple like the flu, bronchitis or anything that might eventually run it's course without medicine.  Yep, it's true what my Granny always said "That that doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger" but it damn near killed us both.  Then I got a bladder infection so no home remedy was gonna clear that up....trust me I tried eating yogurt, drinking 6 liters of cranberry juice, hot baths, lots of water and even drank warm baking soda drinks but nothing was gonna help without the use of medicine. I have a long history with bladder infections so I know the what it is!  My dr back home wrote me a script for the pain meds associated with the infections but not the antibiotics which I totally understand why but I'm dying here.   Mark's company has a doctor on staff that makes visits to the plant every week....think he'd have mentioned that before Tuesday and me dying but no.....so his assistant makes me an appointment but I need to go to his office.  I can do that and oh, BTW take a urine sample with you...ok, seems weird but I can do that.  I pack up my sample, my baggie of meds and head over to his office which is really close to the apartment....thank goodness because I'm still coughing, ect from the flu.  I get there and it's a beautiful office with this really nice lady sitting at the front desk.  She greets me by name and asks me to fill out some paperwork....yeah, I know I can't read German then I realize it's just a simple  piece of paper that she wants my name, address, date of birth and phone number on.....nothing else!  No medical history or anything!  Then she asks for my urine sample which I promptly hand her and she cringes because it's red/orange so I tell her that's from medicine that my dr back in the states had prescribed....I've lost her and the dr comes out at this point and he's totally confused.  Guess this isn't a common practice or treatment over here but hey I was looking for some relief.  He asks me to step into his office and have a seat so I'm thinking he's going to take my medical history but no he's just wanting to get to know me.  Whatever dude, have I mentioned that I'm dying here?  I explain my long history with bladder infections going back to childhood, what my dr has done in the past and here's what medicine I'm taking.  He looks at my little baggie of sleeping pills, depression meds and headache meds along with the urine changing wonder drug.  He's never heard of some of these so can I please explain why I take them...ok that's understandable but then he asks about half way in "How long are you staying in Germany and do you expect me to write for these pills"?  "Um, no my dr in the states has taken care of that so I really only need an antibiotic to help me with the bladder issue"  besides dude, my health insurance won't work over here so it's out of my pocket money but I didn't say that.  Now he wants to discuss why I take depression and anxiety meds plus sleeping pills because they just don't do that here.  Did I understand that allowing my body to function as normal was best?  Yep that's right, I can just dissolve into a crying puddle of goo while sweating profusely because everything is "new" and I'm not sleeping and oh yea, I have a migraine that hasn't gone away in years because that's what would happen if I didn't take my meds....trust me Donna on drugs good, Donna off drugs not a pretty picture.  Finally he gets that I'm not buying into the whole idea so he starts researching antibiotics on his computer that should help me without interacting with all my other meds,  Thank goodness, we're finally getting somewhere so he prints me out a script and tells me I need to find a pharmacy to fill it which I already know are hard to find but I can manage.  Then he walks me to the front desk and she starts checking me out.....no one else is in the building...no one waiting, no phones ringing, no sales reps waiting to bring in lunch, nobody!  It's surreal but I like it because I'm not going to get another illness while waiting in the waiting room with 100 other people coughing, sneezing, throwing up, ect.  And the visit only cost $35.52 euros which is amazing because they did "lab" work and everything.  Shocking wasn't even close to what I was thinking because we figured the office visit would be around $200Euro then the labs and medicine another $100 so I was happy.  I remembered a pharmacy was close to the bank so I walked down there but they were closed for lunch....go figure.  But there is a cute coffee shop, MoccaSins and they have a really nice staff so I head over there for a treat to wait until the store reopens.  I love (not) how stores around here close from12:30 or 1:00 for at least 1 1/2 hours or longer every day for lunch even the banks!!!!!  Just such an old concept for us Americans that believe we should be able to do anything 24 hours a day.  Do you remember when stores used to not open until 10:00 AM or closed on Sundays?  I do and I'm getting back into that mindset again.  So the pharmacy reopens and I head in there to again no one waiting!  What?  Seriously, I had the guy my script and he rummages in a card catalog type file box then hands me a box of medicine.  No questions,no name,  no small talk just here it is and that's $16Euro.  No directions on how to take it, nothing, nada, zilch!  So now I'm taking the antibiotics and starting to feel a little better so I totally live thru this week but I seriously had my doubts Monday night.  I'm a good nurse for others but I'm a horrible patient because I just want to be left alone but someone should also anticipate what I need and bring it to me cheerfully...ahem with lots of love, patience and tenderness not complain how bad they feel, how they are sicker than me or suck it up instructions....not helping. Seriously, hope everyone else is doing well and I promise no more complaining until at least the next time I'm sick!  Ha, ha!