What Constitues a Cat Lady?

Last night we worked late into the evening to repair some screen doors for a customer. I like re-screening doors and windows; it's quick easy work and you have a nice new screen when you are all done. George and I don't usually talk a lot when working together on a project especially if it's late and we're tired.

However, last night George must have something weighing heavy on his mind because he made me promise that if he died before I did that I would not become a "crazy cat lady" and get a whole bunch of cats I couldn't take care of and let them spray all over everything.  He seemed very worried I might do this.  Um..... NO, nada, so not happening. I am a bonafide dog person; more specifically a beagle person.

So, after a moment of letting him think I might actually be planning to get 30 cats I told him it was far more likely that I would surround myself with a heard of howling beagles. (Sorry if you happen to be a neighbor of ours :)  Yep, I would myself several of these little guys:

It's not that I don't like cats, I just like dogs more, but I've had many positive experiences with cats.

Growing up, we had plenty of cats, but they weren't quite tame, they were barn cats. They were essentially wild animals that you never purposefully fed; they lived outside, but often you would find a nest of kittens up in the haw mow.  In the winter they lived in the barn and helped keep the mice and barn swallow populations down. Sometimes I would be able to "make friends" with a certain cat and then cozy up to her kittens and hold them.  We had a giant tom of a barn cat that we creatively called Tom. He used to love to hang on the kitchen screen door at mealtime.

Once when I was at a farm auction with Daddy I made fast friends with a young, farm cat; about a year old. All during the auction I begged my dad to buy him for me. As if they sell cats at a barn auction.....In the farming world barn cats stay with the farm and the next owners take them on. I know it sounds cruel by today's standards, but that's just how it is or at least was.  I wanted this little cat and I'm sure Daddy was thinking we've got 5 or 6 of those things at home.The old farmer that was selling his place at auction that day said I could have the cat if I promised to name the cat after him. So Charley he became. For a good long time I used to drag Charley into the house, feed him and try to make it into a pet.  He didn't want any part of that, so he joined the ranks of the barn cats.

After George's strong prohibition against me becoming a cat lady, I got to wondering, what exactly constitutes a cat lady? Is it somebody that just likes cats and has one or two or three?  My mom has 2 cats (used to be 3) in a small apartment and will feed just about any stray, but I don't think of her as a cat lady. Is it somebody with 10 cats, but they are all very well cared for, healthy and their house doesn't smell to high heaven? Is it somebody with 20 cats? Is is somebody with one cat and yet everything in the entire house is coated in a fabric of cat hair and stinkys terribly? What do you think? What is a "cat lady" to you?

My many years of waiting on the public in a grocery store was in many ways an education in people. As they say, everyone's got to eat and they will make their way into a grocery store at some point. And, guess what: Cat Ladies shop too. Here are my observations based on up close and personal assessments of cat ladies for 8 years. Out of the hundreds, possibly thousands of customers I waited on, close to half regularly buy cat food and may just have one or two cats. These are not the folks I'm discussing.  These observations are based on people that had a lot of cats and routinely bought cat food in large quantities, that I assume was for cats and not for themselves. (Contrary to popular sob stories, poor people do not buy and consume cat food for themselves. It is actually far more expensive than people food. )


1. They are Cat Ladies. It is very rare to ever see a man routinely buying a lot of cat food. As a matter of fact, out of dozens of cat ladies; I can only think of one man that did and he was married to a cat lady.

2. Cat Ladies have a very distinct demographic:

They are almost always white, late middle aged, single and childless. Oh, and you can also add in very overweight.  I've always wondered about this; particularly the late middle age thing, how come I've never seen a young "cat lady" in all my years of working in the store?  I totally get the single and childless thing; I had Barney for years before marrying George. He is my baby. Out of the all the cat ladies I know from the store only one was married (see #1). George would probably say that's because no man wants to be in competition with cats for a woman's affection.

3. Cat Ladies are covered in cat hair when they go out in public. And I do mean covered; as if they got wet and rolled in a giant pile of hair. It is also very interesting to note that cat ladies typically wear clothing that is very prone to static electricity (think polyester knits) so it's as if the hair finds you and then sticks on as you walk by. I always marveled at that.

4. There are more Cat Ladies than you think. When I first started clerking in the grocery store I was supremely surprised at the sheer number of cat ladies. In our small grocery store, we had about 3 dozen we knew by name that came in at least weekly or every few days.  I had no idea there were this many! Many were very nice ladies that would pass the time of day with you. They would tell you about their cats and show you pictures they carry in their pocketbooks.

5. Cat Ladies feed their cats canned, wet food almost exclusively. I have no idea why and have always wondered about that. It costs a gazillion times more than dry cat food.

6.  Cat Ladies buy very little cat litter. Seriously, for the amount of cat food purchased and the number of cats they have they don't buy much litter.

While typing this, I realized that almost every single reader of this blog is a woman; maybe even a Cat Lady. If you are, please don't be offended because, given the right circumstances I would happily be a "Dog Lady" with a whole herd of howling beagles.

Crunchy Outside, Moist Inside Oven Fried Chops

George just adores pork chops. We like them marinaded and cooked on the grill, but during the cooler months I'll often make oven fried chops. My recipe for oven fried pork chops creates a crispy outside and a very moist tender inside which we all know = delicious. Here's my recipe

Moist Oven Fried Pork Chops

6 boneless loin chops 3/4 inch thick, trimmed of any visible fat

1 egg, beaten
1.5 cups of bread crumbs
Salt & Pepper to Taste
1 tsp spicy pepper/paprika blend seasoning (I use a Chelsea Blend, which is pretty similar to Old Bay seasoning)
2 tsp dried parsley flakes

2-3 Tablespoons of cooking oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the bread crumbs, salt, pepper, spicy seasoning and parsley flakes into a flat, shallow dish (pie plate works well). Dip pork chop in beaten egg; allow excess egg to drip off. Dredge pork chop in the bread crumb mixture. Once all the pork chops have been coated in the bread crumb mixture, drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of oil into a 9x13 baking dish and coat evenly. Place pork chops into the dish and pop into a preheated oven. Bake uncovered for 50 minutes; 25 minutes in, turn the chops and add a smidgen of extra oil, if necessary.

Menu Plan Monday

Sunday:

Oven Fried Pork Chops, Baked Potatoes, Carrots

Monday:

BLT's  and Homemade Steakhouse Potato Salad (Our grocery store has finally got in a shipment of tomatoes that actually smell and taste like tomatoes so we can't wait to try them out in a BLT tonight!)

Tuesday:

Chili with all the fixings and cornbread

Wednesday:

Turkey Sandwiches and leftover chili

Thursday:

Beef & Bean Tostadas topped with lettuce, salsa, sour cream & cheese

Friday:

Pizza Night

Saturday:

Roast Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole,  Garden Salad, Rolls (we are breaking with tradition this year and going out for Easter dinner after church, but I still wanted to make a nice dinner at home so we will be eating this the day before Easter)

Easter Sunday

(we are taking my mom out after church for dinner)

This post is linked to Org Junkie

Mid Week Humor: Influence. I Have It

As a blogger I have a lot of opportunities to review new products and share my thoughts on these products with readers. My husband is getting a little jealous of all the free stuff that is coming to our house; although this stuff usually isn't anything he's interested in (think toilet wands and breakfast bars).

I tried explaining to him that companies love to court women bloggers because we typically decide what shampoo or toilet paper to buy. You know -- the things we women, moms and homemakers theoretically concern ourselves with. As a women, I have more influence than he does in these matters. Great. I just realized what I said --- I have influence when it comes to toilet related products. That's not something I'll be sharing at parties.

Exasperated, George asked me if these companies need me to try out any tools or stuff for trucks. I laughed and said no. Then in a last ditch effort he asked if they had a housewife version of a garden tractor that he, I could try out.

Thankfullness is Always a Good Policy

Recently I visited the granddaddy of all Meijer stores. This is a gigantic beautiful Meijer store about an hour from my house -- it's in an upscale area and let's just say it beats the stuffing out of my little country Meijer when it comes to selection.

I knew I was going to be going right by this super-duper-deluxe store ahead of time so I got together my weekly grocery list and had a handful of coupons so I could score some great deals. After spending an hour and a half traipsing all over this big, beautiful store and marveling at wanting all the things you can't get in my local store I pushed my shopping cart up to the check out lane.  After the clerk rang up the contents of my card and started to deduct my coupons I quickly noted the coupons weren't doubling and asked why.

The clerk looked at me like I was nuts. What do you mean doubling? he asked. Uh oh -- this store didn't double coupons! Immediately I found myself irritated and considered myself deprived of several dollars worth of doubled coupons. Despite the fact the retailers are under no obligation to double coupons; I felt cheated some how.  What a greedy attitude, huh?

On the way out of the store it dawned on me there was another way to look at the situation: for the past 19 years I've received the benefit of doubled coupons. How many hundreds, if not thousands of dollars do you think that adds up to?

When we become accustomed to paying a lower price or getting a great deal on something we start taking it for granted. When that restaurant stops doing their two for one deal, or your coupons stop doubling, or the utility company starts charging late fees and we've been paying late all along, we suddenly feel like we've got the raw end of the deal and start squawking.

It's always good for us to remember that we aren't entitled to all of the good deals we get; they are a nice bonus.

Menu Plan Monday -- Fish Fry Night!

Monday

Chicken Fajita Enchiladas
(basically, this meal is my doctored up version of this Campbell's soup recipe; Instead of using all chicken for the filling; I'm going to include diced onions and bell peppers)

Tuesday

Homemade Veggie-Beef Soup and Ham sandwiches

Wednesday

Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Mixed Vegetables, Garden Salad

Thursday

Possibly we will be having company for a fish fry night. George brought home a whole cooler full of fresh fish from his trip the Gulf. One night this week we are planning to have my sister and her family over. If that's the case we will be having lots of fish, coleslaw and homemade fries.

Friday

Pizza Night

Another Way We Will Save Over $600 This Year

Last time I wrote about we how we saved over $500 a year just from re quoting our TV, phone and Internet service. This time I'm sharing one of the big ways we save money in the kitchen.

We never pay full price for meat and this saves us a lot of money. I used to work in a grocery store and you would be amazed at the number of people that regularly plunk down hard earned money on meat that will be $2 less per pound the next week.

How I calculate our savings of at least $600 per year by not paying full price for meat.

This isn't an exact science because I don't have precise records of how much meat we eat and the price we pay for it for a whole year. As much as I love Excel and keeping track of numbers; I'm not sure I want to keep track of all that!

So I'm sharing my very best conservative guesstimate based on the prices in our area.

Here's the amount of meat we, as a two person household consume in a week. Keep in mind my husband loves meat. If you don't eat much meat or are feeding an army of meat eaters, your version will look different.

Weekly Meat Consumption

3lbs of beef (usually ground round)

1lb chicken (usually boneless breast)

1lb pork (usually pork loin)

1# other meats (this is averaging in turkey, ham (I know ham is pork, but I'm putting it here, thank you : ), sausage, bacon -- okay, so almost all of our "other meats" are pork)

Below is the estimated average price I pay for these meats verses the regular price.

3 lbs Beef $2.39lb = $7.17 vs. 3lbs x $3.99 = $11.99

(Here's where my conservative nature comes in. I almost always pay 1.99 per pound for the bulk of the beef we eat, which is ground round. But, I adjusted this higher to allow for some roasts that cost a little more per pound)

1 lb Chicken = $1.99 vs. 1lb @ $4.99

1 lb Pork = $1.69 vs. 1lb @ 3.79

1 lb Other Meat = $1.99 vs. 1lb @ 3.99

Total Meat Costs Per Week: $12.84 vs. non sale cost of $24.74

That's a weekly savings of $11.90. Now, multiply that out by 52 weeks in a year and voila! You end up with a yearly savings of over $600.

This was pretty exciting news to me. But, what if you are reading this and you are thinking: big deal; I already buy meat on sale a lot of the time? Well, lets take a moment and think things over. Would you be willing to say that maybe 1/2 the time you pay the sale price, or 75% of the time? You have the potential to save $309 or $154 by moving to buying at the sale price all of the time. If your family consumes more meat than ours; your savings will likely be quite a bit higher than ours.

This post is linked to WFMW & LifeasMOM.

photo credit: MattKilnFarmShop

My Vicarious Visit to India

I was delighted to hear Michelle Mitton from Scribbit was planning a trip to India. I'm so glad she and her husband have the opportunity to take one of those special, once in a lifetime trips and glad that I, as a blog reader will be getting a first hand account. 

India is one of those countries that's crossed off our "to visit" list for several reasons; mostly because I'm a little scared of going that far away from home to a country where I don't know any of the languages, oh, and it's far, far out of our price range. That said; I'm pretty excited about reading Michelle's account of her visit; it's a great way for me to "visit" India minus the expense, language barrier and 20+ hours on an airplane. Good deal if you ask me.

This morning I eagerly checked to see if Michelle had posted a travel update; she did and it was wonderful! Her words made me feel as if I was right there with her seeing, hearing, tasting India.

Michelle writes:

I woke up in the Indiranager district of Bangalore at five o'clock Thursday morning because my body thought it was afternoon. I got out of bed to open the window then slipped back under the thin cotton sheet which was nearly too much for the heat in the room. As the morning grew lighter the birds began calling back and forth to each other from their perches in the date palms below and the smell of warm dusty air from outside mixed with the manufactured atmosphere of the air conditioned room but it was the sounds of the city that caught my attention.

You absolutely must pop over and visit Michelle's blog, Scribbit as she transports you to Bangalore India in her Bangalore City Sounds post. I highly recommend you bookmark her site and check in each day as she shares a little bit of India.

Photo credit: Scribbit

Lemony Lemon Bars

With the warmer weather of Spring I'm in the mood to try some new recipes.

Sign up here for the General Mills recipe newsletter and get a recipe for some fabulous lemon bars and all sorts of tasty recipes. General Mills is also pretty generous about including some great coupons in their newsletter.

Magnets Are My Best Friend in the Kitchen

We all know we are *supposed to keep our refrigerator clean and neat and not clutter up the front with magnets and stuff. I'm all for that, but I also find refrigerator magnets to be a big help in the kitchen. While I like things neat and clean, I also like to make my work area "work for me" and using magnets to hold stuff to the fridge works for me.

Recipes

I am forever coming across delicious sounding recipes that I want to try. For a long time I let these recipes pile up into little big stacks with other papers. This didn't work very well for two reasons: I could never find the recipes and therefore never remembered to try them out. Once I finally sat down to go through the stack(s); I was so sick of dealing with paper clutter that I threw every recipe out just to be able to clean up the paper.

Now I've taken to limiting myself to a few recipes I'd like to try, say 10 or less. I stack them up neatly and clip them in the metal binder clip. For this photo I spread them out a little so you can see I've got several. Don't those chicken enchiladas look good? I periodically go through the little stack and take ones out and add new ones

Weekly Menu

On Monday's I post our weekly menu here at Farm Home Life. Believe it or not; sometimes I forget what's been planned for supper and I have to come here and check the blog. Pretty soon I'm going to need a wheel barrow to carry around all these brain cells I keep loosing. Lately I've started writing out the week's menu on a sticky note and posting it on the fridge as a handy reminder.

Grocery List

How many times have you ran out of something and thought "I'll have to remember to add that to the grocery list this week"? I used to think that too, but could NEVER remember to add it to the list. Now, as we run low on things I'll add the item to a magnet backed tablet that's stuck to the fridge.

Where Did I Put This List

This list of creative kitchen helps is getting a little depressing because it sounds like I don't have a brain left in my head : ) but hey, this stuff really helps me! So here's one more...

I have a knack for putting things into a nice safe place so there is no way I will forget where they are. Only.... I forget! Very aggravating! To help keep things straight I keep a list of all the places I put stuff to keep it safe (or loan out to friends and family) or want to remember-- even if it is really obvious and I feel like there is * no way I will forget it.

Here's an example of things on my list:

Mom has the national parks dvd set

stuff to take to sisters is _ _ _ _ _

mailed rebate for soap on _____, call X number if not paid by ______,

Menu Plan Monday

Monday

Hamburgers on the grill, Deviled eggs, Baked Beans

Tuesday

Cabbage Roll Casserole, Cornbread

Wednesday

Chicken Cutlets, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Brussel Sprouts

Thursday

Spaghetti & Meatballs, Garden Salad, Garlic Bread

Friday

Pizza night

Menu Plan Monday

I picked up a few things at the grocery store last week. When I shopped on Saturday I wasn't sure what day George was going to come home so I just picked up a few things to tide me over. I'll do a bigger trip mid-week, or we can just eat from the freezer and pantry until this Saturday.

Monday

Chicken Fajita Salad (just like it sounds -- the insides of a chicken fajita on a bed of lettuce)

Tuesday

Tuna Salad on Kashi Crackers, fresh veggies

Wednesday

My hubby is coming home this day and you know I will be making one of his favorite meals!  We will be having bbq ribs, augratin potatoes, broccoli salad, whole wheat rolls and banana cream pie for dessert.  The left over meat will be shredded and used for bbq pork sandwiches for our Sunday night supper.

Thursday

Fresh fish of some kind from George's trip. He fished off the big pier until Midnight Saturday and didn't catch a thing. But I know George, if there's fish there, he will catch 'em. I'm not sure yet what I'll serve this with. Maybe ranch oven fries and broccoli salad if there's any left.

Friday

Pizza night


This post is linked to MPM.

Big Clothing Organizing Project: DONE!

It's been a pretty quite week around here with George gone, sniff, sniff.  In order to keep busy I've been working on knocking out several projects that have been on the "some day, when I have time to do list".  Today I worked at cleaning out our bedroom closet, my dresser and a few totes of clothes that were in storage.

The end result of an afternoon of work is two big bags of clothes to donate, one tote of clothes that I plan to sell either at the consignment shop, Ebay or Craig's List and a tote of clothes that I will hopefully be able to wear this summer. Boy, it feels good to cross this project off my list!  Now, if I can just get started on the same project for George's clothes :)

I have a tendency to hold on to stuff. It's not like the Intervention People are coming to tell me I'm a hoarder or anything like that, but I do hate to let things go. So it feels especially good to be able to get rid of two bags and a tote full of clothes.  My primary reason for holding on to stuff is I think that I "might need it or want it someday".  Yeah, this hasn't worked so well for me. This extra stuff cluttering up our closet and the dresser has been driving me nuts. I disdain clutter and disorganization, so you would think I would be a bit more proactive about getting rid of stuff as soon as I decide it needs to go.

See this nice little jewelry chest below?  This is a prime example of what I'm talking about. I bought this for myself several years ago, because I thought I should have a jewelry chest to "properly" store my jewelry.  Well, it's done nothing but take up room on my dresser and need to be dusted. I don't have much jewelry at all; 5 pairs of earrings, 2 necklaces and a watch; and my wedding rings. You don't really need this size of a jewelry box to hold it. Everything fits in the center drawer. Every time I looked at the box, I was sorry I'd bought it, finally I listed it for sale tonight.

Here's an example how I label our totes and boxes of stuff that's stored. The box contains my winter gloves and three hats. In the winter, this box lives on a shelf in our hall closet. In the summer it goes upstairs to storage and the box with decorative summer flags takes it's place. The tote contains several pairs of crop pants, shorts and several 3/4 sleeve summer tops that I'm saving for this summer. I've labeled it with the general idea of the contents so that I'll know right away what's inside without having to root through it all.

Here's the two bags of clothes for donation

The Extraordinary Ordinary Life

Do you struggle with feeling that you are not good enough? Do you feel like things would be better and you would be happier if you had a better job, made more money? Maybe life would be great if you became a homemaker, kept a cleaner house and were better organized?

Do you wish you were a better mother that focused more understanding and loving instead of yelling? Do you wish your kids were better? Your husband? Your marriage? Do you wish you were a better wife, a better friend, a better daughter, neighbor, church member -- a better everything?

Does it seem like everyone you know is living a better, happier life than you are? That they are leading some extraordinary fantastic life, that you will never be able to have? Are you envious of them? Even the teeniest bit?

Do you feel as if no matter what you do, you will never quite measure up or be good enough? Never have as wonderful a life as other people you know? Be honest here..... (this is very easy to do; I've done my fair share: )

Think carefully.

Why do you feel like this?

Now, let's toss out all those easy answers that first came to mind. Answers like these:

my situation is different -- special
I'm not talented
my kids are horrible and hard to get along with
my husband is even worse
I hate my job
I lost my job
my husband lost his job
I'm broke
my mother-in-law is ruining our marriage
I'm too busy
I'm too fat
I have a serious health problem
I never get any breaks
everybody else has it easy, I've had to work really hard!

What is the real reason behind why we feel as if we don't measure up? Who or what are we trying to measure up to? OTHERS. When we compare ourselves to others we are creating our own unhappiness and discontentment.

You know that old saying: the only people that don't have problems are the ones you don't know? It's as true today as it was then. All of the people we compare ourselves to have their own faults, shortcomings, struggles and situations they want to change. Chances are very good, they are even comparing themselves to others and wishing they could be better! Oh, if we could only see what goes on in the heads of those we envy. Instead of envying them, we might want to come along side them to encourage and cheer them on.

We have got to stop comparing ourselves to others and wishing we had what they have! Have you ever noticed that when we start comparing ourselves to others that we don't ever just pick one person or family to compare ourselves to? Oh, no, we pick 10, 20 or 30 different people and want to have only the best parts of each one! A sure recipe for disaster.

In order to stop comparing ourselves to others we've got to do two things:

1. Turn our focus back on God and His plan for us.

The one that created us has the best plan for our lives. Right here and now and 20 years from now. Sometimes that plan takes us through some rough waters where we might be tempted to think God's plan sucks. We might as well continue to seek God and go along with His plan because we surely aren't going to come up with something better on our own.

2. Start living and enjoying your Extraordinary Ordinary Life

All of life is cannot be a party. For the vast majority of us, our lives will involve a whole lot of mundane daily tasks. The special once or twice in a lifetime moments are very rare indeed. Somehow we've got to weave a life that we enjoy out of the day to day stuff -- the mundane, ordinary things. We've got to pause and reflect and learn to enjoy the basics in life.

One recent Sunday morning George and I were getting ready for church, he was at the sink and I stood next to him pouring him another cup of coffee. It was one of those days when I felt in love x 10. I leaned over to him and whispered, these are the best days of our lives and we don't even know it. George said, oh, we know it; we just don't act like it. Talk about an opportunity to review our outlook on life! How often we fail to realize how special our extraordinary, ordinary days, years... lives are.

Mid Week Humor: A Man's View

Men and women are different. I learned this early in life.  When I was 8 years old my mother gave birth to my little brother -- the first boy in the family in 20 some years. Having a little brother was so very different than having little sisters!  By the time Mike was 2 years old, my sisters and I were asking our mother if he was born with something wrong with him.  Was he brain damaged? She laughed hysterically and said "no, he is a boy".  All of us still laugh about this today.

And, so I married a grown up boy and have continued to learn just how differently men and women see things. Last week George and I were watching tv when a commerical for some mineral make up came on. My first thought was, hmmmm maybe that will make my skin look that good; maybe that's just what I need!"  My husband interrupted my blemish free face fantasy with the statement: "UGH! Why would women want to put dirt on their faces?!"  Startled out of my instant need for new makeup, I thought for a moment about what he said and it dawned on me, yes, these minerals would be considered "dirt" in my view. Lord knows what's all in my non-mineral makeup; probably something worse than dirt.  Why do I want to put dirt on my face?

That said, I will be reaching for the make up at 6 tomorrow morning.

$30 Home Made Simple Coupon Book

I just got word that the new Homemade Simple $30 coupon book is ready!  These are the best saving booklets I get and while you can only get one per household, the savings more than add up. They have higher dollar coupons for Swiffer, Cascade, Febreeze and lots of other great brands. Sometimes there's even a coupon for a free product.

In order to get the coupon booklet, you need to sign up for their newsletter, which you can do right here. I just ordered mine and it should arrive in 6-8 weeks.

Orchid Show Delight

Ever since my stepdad passed away, I've been spending more time with my mom. Most every week I've been taking her on errands, grocery shopping, out to lunch and playing scrabble with her. I also try to find special outings and events she might enjoy attending. At first I started spending more time with Mom because I didn't want her to become isolated and spend the winter cooped up alone in her apartment. This was all supposed to be done as a blessing to her.

Over the past few months, it is I that have been so very blessed by spending more time with my mom. She's such a neat lady; if I hadn't been her child and known her all my life and we met for the first time today; I would like her straight off.

This Saturday Mom and I went to an Orchid show. We've had a lot of winter lately -- well okay, for the past several months and we're getting sick of it! Mom and I are big gardeners and we've really been in the mood to see something in bloom. This was our first time going to an orchid show.  WOW about sums it up! I wish I had brought my camera. Everything was so beautiful! I could not believe it, there was one huge horticulture building stuffed to the brim with a wide variety of gorgeous orchids for sale. Then we came to another whole greenhouse filled with all the the Orchid show winners.  Oh my goodness! So many beautiful orchids, you would not believe it. 

I wanted to cart half of them off to brighten up our house, but didn't even buy one! I was afraid it might not sustain the trip home and all the blasts of cold air from the car doors opening. This week I'll order a book on how to care for orchids from Amazon, (thank you SwagBucks) and start studying up on how to keep them.  Just think how much an orchid in bloom can cheer up even the drabbest office or plain jane kitchen counter top!

After the orchid show, we had a nice lunch at Cracker Barrel. A good way to finish off a lovely Saturday outing.

Photo Credit

Menu Plan Monday

This week's going to be a little weird menu-wise. With George out of town I'll be very tempted to just pull a yogurt of of the fridge for supper and call it good. But, since I eat yogurt for breakfast several days a week, I don't think yogurt for dinner is a good choice. I'm going to try and make something more substantial for dinner.

Monday

The plan is to make up a small batch of chicken fajitas. I'll eat these for supper tonight and then lunch tomorrow. Leftovers will get frozen for another time.

Tuesday

Leftover chili from the freezer with all the fixings

Wednesday

Broiled Salmon with broccoli

Thursday

Garden Salad with Chicken (this is really easy to whip up, I have some diced cooked chicken in the fridge)

Friday

Chinese Takeout

I'm breaking with our Friday night pizza tradition and getting some Chinese.