August 19, 2019–thought for the day:  Running away makes you guilty. Polish Proverb

Typical Monday. I spent time working on the back of my church bulletin and got it finished. Then got the church newsletter up to date. It is ready to print unless I hear from other members who want something in. I am glad to be this far along with both of them. We are having a minister that we haven’t had in some time. If I remember she has a full bulletin ready when she sent it to me to put in our format so I didn’t bother with the inside. I will wait until I hear from her. I sent a request for the information this morning. The back story about my involvement with these two missives is that we lost our secretary several years ago. I volunteered as a member of the church to fill in until a new secretary was hired.....I am still happily doing the bulletin and newsletter as well as other secretarial tasks.


The FMS photo challenge for yesterday was A Drink....and the day before that it was “2 thing”, something I found in the kitchen, an egg and a cucumber, imaginative??  Welllll....





The twins (my grandniece)  were back for another night and morning with us. Their mom said they could stay another day since they had a meet-the-teacher meeting tonight and started school Wednesday.

I had the windows opened until the heat from the outside was getting noticeable and turned the AC on. I took a break, before I got a bit of lunch, to water the front garden. The ground in my yard is so uneven it’s difficult to walk in a straight line as if that’s always possible at my age anyway. The uneven ground makes it even more of a challenge.

Sugar, one of my two dogs (a dachshund)  has been giving me a worry. She hasn’t been eating like she has most of her life. She only did something this a few months ago when she was diagnosed with pancreatitis. I laid in bed this morning worrying about her. During those musings I decided maybe I would try something other than the canned dog food that she usually gets. I gave her tuna this morning and she ate! What a relief.

My word today is alter. I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like wine through water, and altered the colour of my mind, Emily Bronte.  We have less reason to be surprised or offended when we find others differ from us in opinion, because we very often differ from ourselves: how often we alter our minds, we do not always remark; because the change is sometimes made imperceptibly... ”, Samuel Johnson.  It is bad advice that cannot be altered, Publilius Syrus.  The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind, William Blake.  It is the disposition of the thought that altered the nature of the thing, John Lyly. One more, Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly, Francis Bacon.

I found an article today in Columbusunderground.com about how to get ready for “lifestyle creep.”   When friends were chatting, a subject came up about money and it’s importance to each of us as we move on in life. During the chat one of the topics was a quote from a man who worked in consumer education for an insurance company. One point was that when salaries go up it seems spending can go up too.  Another thought brought up in this chat about an article one had read was that you tend to be more aware of being broke than of how to spend when money is available. That makes it common sense that keeping a written budget can be a guide to spending and how to plan for vacations and other luxuries not to mention necessities. Setting up and keeping a savings account must be a part of the budget. Something that came up in the article that I hadn’t considered was that living gets more expensive as we get older with medical and health expenses more in the picture. So we need to consider that point. I didn’t learn how to handle money when I was growing up. I leaned as I aged and as life taught and demanded.

My FMS (fatmumslim.com.au) photo of today challenge title is: “a white food.” How about this one, white bread and Swiss cheese. I am not particularly pleased with this shot. It fit the topic. But I think there could have been some more imagination in setting it up. I was not focused and was in a hurry....to much of that happens in my life.....must slow down and smell the roses.

I pulled out the tuna casserole that I made and froze two Sunday’s ago for dinner tonight. So, here’s my personal recipe for tuna casserole:  First make a white sauce: 2 T butter melted with about 2 T flour to a paste, add 1 cup of milk, add more milk slowly to the consistency of cream. Then add a 15 oz. packet of tuna, next add about 8 oz. of extra sharp (I use Cracker Barrel) cheese chopped up or shredded to quicken the melting. Boil homemade noodles (or a package of good homemade egg noodles) (for homemade noodles: two to three eggs beaten, a splash of water, a dash of olive oil; add flour gradually until the dough is easy to handle and not too sticky. Flour lightly and roll through a noodle making machine or roll out like pie dough on floured surface then roll like for a pin wheel cookie, then cut to desired width. Drop into boiling water and cook until tender, drain and add the sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Joy