My Very Own Ghost Story

(Side note: I'm very excited that I figured out how to repost a blog. All. By. Myself. You may not be a techo-idiot like I am, so instead of being impressed, you may be rolling your eyes while saying "Duh".)


Anyway. In the "spirit" of Halloween, I've decided to make this an annual post. I mean, I only have one ghost story. I originally made it a two-parter, but I've decided to just post it all at once, for your reading enjoyment. 

Do You Believe in Ghosts?

I am not a huge fan of Halloween, especially since I'm too old to go begging for candy! I don't have much use for the night. Gory, scarry movies? Gory, scarry costumes? Haunted houses? No, thank you, don't need 'em.


However, I do have a good Halloween story! I'll say right up front, that I don't believe in ghosts, however, that doesn't mean that I have not had a weird experience, or two.


My son, JT, won't let me discuss anything that even remotely hints of g-h-o-s-t-s. He's had his own freaky experiences. And, Awesome Daughter has had some weirdo things happen to her. As far as I know, son, BD, has not had any experiences.


So, here's what happened...We had not been in our house very long, probably less than a year. Now, as far as houses go, this one was not that old.  The house was built the year I was born, and this happened when I was in my early 30's. So, it was not a creepy old house. On this particular night, (actually, early in the morning) I was having a terrible time sleeping. I could not get comfortable for anything. Finally, I decided tht the only thing that sounded appealing was laying down on the floor. (For someone who likes a nice, soft, comfy bed, this was highly unusual!) There was not much floor space in our bedroom, so I grabbed my pillow, and extra blanket, and went out to lay down on the living room floor. I laid on my stomach, covered up, snuggled into my pillow, and instantly felt comfortable. I no sooner got situated and ready to doze off, when it happened. 


One of the kiddos was up. Are you kidding me? It was waaaay to early. I could hear whoever it was coming down the stairs, one stair at a time. No, no, no! Go back to sleep! I am not getting up. So, I decided that I would fake that I was alseep, and ignore them. Maybe then, they would go back to bed. 


One by one, I heard the footsteps come down the stairs. I heard, and felt them walking around me as I laid on the floor. I kept faking my sleep, and it worked. They must have got up on the couch and went to sleep. Good. 


When I woke up, a few hours later, I was surprised to see that I was alone in the living room. Whoever it was, must have gone back to bed. Good, hopefully, they will all sleep in on this Saturday morning.


Later, as each one came downstairs, I questioned them. "Did you wake up early and come downstairs?"  JT said, "No." BD said, "No." That left Jennee. Her answer was "no" as well.  "Well, one of you must have because I heard you come down."  They all looked at me like I was cuckoo (again!) 


Although, it was a little freaky, I probably would have forgotten about the incident, except for what happened next . . . . . 
(Sorry, I can't get the "you might also like" suggestions off. They only show up when I preview. And, if they are not showing up now, just assume the "ghost" is messing with me!)

What Happened Next Was...

Well, since you asked, here's what happened next!
But, first, a sidenote (I love my sidenotes!): Many years ago, I saw a  TV movie with Lindsay Wagner, "The Two Worlds of Jennie Logan". She found an old dress in the attic of the Victorian house she and her husband had just bought. Whenever she put it on, she found herself in a different era, but in the same house. When the glass on the hutch was broken in the older era, and she came back to her era, the glass was broken on her hutch for no apparent reason. I was intriqued at the feasiblity of  multiple dimensions existing at the same time, and traveling back and forth from one to the other. (How cool would THAT be?)

Anyway, that brings me to my experiences. After the initial freaky experience, I can tell you that I never left my bed to sleep on the floor again. EV-ER! But, then I started having weird experiences in bed. No, not THAT kind of weird!

Hubby had to get up at 3:00 in the morning for work. (No one should ever have to get up at that ungodly hour!)  After he had left--this never happened while he was at home--I would sense that there was someone standing by my bed. I can't say for sure if I was awake, asleep, dreaming, awake dreaming, or what, but I saw a transparent form of a man standing right beside me. Sometimes there would be a little boy standing with him.  Sometimes they would have a cat. Weird, I know. I decided that they were living in a parallel dimension, and they couldn't figure out who was sleeping in their bed.

Of course, the thing that made it even more freaky was that it seemed so real. I felt like I was awake, even though I kept my eyes closed, because I didn't want to see "them" standing there if my eyes were open.  One time, their cat jumped up in my face, and I jerked my head back to avoid it. It seemed so real.

Another time, I actually felt the bed give way. I was half asleep, and I thought one of the kiddos had come down and gotten in bed with me. I threw back the covers, felt whoever it was get in bed, then threw the covers back over them. In the morning, I woke up. No. One. Was. In. Bed. With. Me. 

CRRREEEEEEPPPYYYYYY! Yes, I was very feaked out! This stuff happened on a regular basis for several years. The getting in bed thing happened "only" a few times. Usually, I just saw or felt "them" standing around me.

But, then we started our own business, and Hubby was home every night until morning. And, then we started a major remodeling over-haul of our house, which was a cute "cape-cod", not a Victorian haunting-type house at all.  Then, the "visits" stopped.

I don't believe in ghosts, but I can't explain the hows or whys of my night visitors. I don't know why they started, but I'm glad they ended. Maybe I was asleep and dreamt the whole thing up. It seemed real--and I hope it never, EV-ER, happens again.

And, now you know the rest of the story!

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Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickeled Peppers

I grew up saying the tongue twister:"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickeled peppers. How many pecks of pickeled peppers did Peter Piper pick?" Until recently, I had never thought about how one goes about picking pickeled peppers. 

My recent experience has been that peppers must first be picked and then they are pickeled. If you can stand yet another blog about produce, here goes.


It all started when I pickeled some banana peppers. I shared the recipe here. It's a secret family recipe, so "shhhhhhh". Anyway, Hubby and Amazing Daughter LOVE banana peppers. I like them, too, but not like they like them.


In case you haven't guessed by now, we like to do things in a big way. I'm from a big family, and Hubby is from a bigger family, so it might just be in our blood. I found myself up to my elbows in banana peppers.

You'd be out of focus, too, if you
had chopped all these peppers!

So, after being buried in veggies from the auction, Hubby had to leave for the week to do some work for his brother. But, while he was gone, he called me every evening, as he always does, when he has to be away.


Monday
Hubby: It's about time you answered your phone. Don't ya wanna talk to me?


Me: Yes, I do. You know I can never find that dumb phone anywhere. Just be glad I heard it ring this time.


Hubby: Yeah, whatever. I don't know why you can't hear it ring. Anyway, I was thinking about those peppers, and then I thought "I'll bet those carrots would taste good, pickeled", what do you think?


Me: That's a good idea, Sweetie. I'll work on those tomorrow. And, we have so many green beans, that I thought about trying to make "Dilly Beans".


Hubby: That's a brilliant idea. Good night, my love. You need to get a good night's sleep.

Tuesday
Hubby: Hello, my Love. You know, I got to thinking, remember when you made those pickled onions last year? Yum. Those were so good. And, I saw a recipe for pickeled asparagus. Oh, I'll bet those would be really good.


Me: So, my Precious, you want me to pickel some onions, huh. I can do that, we have plenty. Yeah, pickeled asparagus sounds good, too. I think I can manage it.


Hubby: That would be fantastic!


Wednesday
Hubby: Hello Sweetheart. How's the pickeling coming along? What about pickeling Brussels Sprouts and beets? I can't stop thinking about all the good things that we should try to pickel.


Me: Yes. Dear. Now, when you say "we", do you mean "me", because, I don't know how WE are going to get all this done when you aren't HERE!


Hubby: Of course I mean "you". Remember, 'your back, my brains'?


Me: Yeah, yeah, we're going places! Stop calling me.


So, I have discovered that nearly anything can be pickeled. However, I would not recommend pickeling Brussels sprouts, unless you enjoy chewing tennis balls.  

And, just for the record, Hubby did help me with chopping some of the veggies, in this case, Brussels sprouts, before he had to leave.

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I'm a Little Ant...

Have you ever watched a little ant scurry around?


Source

They don't go in a straight line to save their lives! I feel a lot like those ants. Scurrying around hither and yon. I can't seem to get focused long enough to write anything. 


It seems that it's either "feast" or "famine" when it comes to blog material. Maybe it is the same with you. Right now I have a lot of ideas, but can't seem to get focused enough to put it to "paper". There is a lot going on, and hopefully I'll have some good news to report in the near future.


My other problem, which I hate to admit, is that I have renewed my addiction to "Addiction Spider Solitaire". What a great name for that stupid game! I really need to take that little icon off my computer. It's way too easy to click that little button and waste several "minutes"! What I should be addicted to is Pinterest. I have exactly three pictures on that sight. If I ever get my Pinterest looking respectable, I'll put a button on my blog. But, right now, it's pretty pitiful.


I won't waste anymore of your precious time with my jibber jabber. I just wanted to let you know that I have plenty of stories to tell, but right now, I'm just wandering around in circles. I will get focused. Promise.


I hope that you are not having trouble staying focused!

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My Artichoke Imposter

Technically, my imposter has been identified as a Jerusalem Artichoke aka sunchokes. Now that I know what it is, I'll be sure not to plant it in my garden again. This is a plant that should be planted in its own space. If you need a privacy wall, this plant will do the trick!


Here's a few photos:

They shot up very quickly -
this is when they were "short"!

They grew taller than the house

A Parting of the Ways

Jack's beanstalk?
Nope. Jerusalem Artichokes.

They have pretty yellow flowers perched
on the top of the stalks

So, you may be wondering, how these are eaten. The roots of these plants are edible. They don't look too appetizing. Hubby has accused me of being closed-minded! The only reason I would want to eat these is if food was not plentiful. For me, this is more of a "survival" food than anything else.

One small root for mankind...
sorry, couldn't help myself   

Bowl full of roots

So, I went here and found a recipe for Jerusalem Artichoke Cheese Soup. I picked this recipe because the ingredients include butter, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. It's hard to go wrong with butter, cheddar cheese, and sour cream. I do realize that if food should become scarce, these ingredients would probably not be available. But, since I had all these ingredients in my fridge, that's what I tried.


Jerusalem artichokes are kind of like potatoes, but without the carbs. They also have lots of health benefits. The soup wasn't terrible, but it also didn't make me want to lick the bowl clean. It was better than I thought, and I'm sure I'll be searching out more recipes for Jerusalem artichoke.

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Victoria is Not the Only One with a Secret!

I have a little secret. 


I also have issues. Or, maybe I just have a computer that hates me. I've been fighting with my computer since my last blog. Actually, it started with the blog you were not able to read, because I accidently deleted it! ARRRRGGGGGG. I was minutes away from finishing it. Just had to make one little adjustment. It was all because that dumb mouse was not cooperating. It didn't go where I wanted it to, it highlighted too much stuff. I suspected the little ball needed cleaning out, but I couldn't figure out how to get it out of the mouse. (I know I've just given you too much information about how my brain functions. Don't judge me too harshly!) Anyway, losing my blog made me lose my blogging mojo, and it has taken me all this time to get it back. At least, I hope it's back. Then, yesterday, as I sat down to check my email blog, the computer froze up. I pushed all the buttons I thought needing pushing. I pulled out wires I thought needed pulling, but to no avail. When Hubby called that night, I told him the problem. "Just unplug it. That should do the trick." Yep, that took care of the problem. Now why didn't I think of that?? 


Now, back to my secret. This past weekend, daughter Jennee, told me we would be going to a Victoria Secrets VIP after hours shopping trip. OK. That sounds like fun. I need a few things.


We walked in, showed them our invitations (that were printed off the computer), and our ID, so we could be entered into the raffle drawings.
My number was 40; Jennee's number was 41. 

We entered the store, and the sales girls were all decked out. (Hubby asked if they were modeling underwear. No. They were not.) The new color of lipstick must be fire engine/neon red, because they were all wearing the same color. Their lips came into the room five minutes before the rest of them. (I'm sorry to report that most of them looked ridiculous.) Some of the girls had a big trayful of cookies, which they begged us to eat. Others had trays of little water bottles, complete with a lovely photo of a model wearing a bra. The male MC was making announcements that free bra sizings were available (aren't they always free?), and reminding us that we should be measured every six months to be sure we are wearing the correct bra size. That was a little weird.


The drawings were to be every 15 minutes. The number for the first drawing was 42! Darn! So close! The number for the second drawing was 39! Darn, again! The numbers were dancing all around us.


We finished our shopping and decided to hang around for a few more drawings. As I was looking at the makeup, a lady came up to me and asked if I would be hanging around for a while. I answered, "Yes, probably."  "Well, then, here, you can have my ticket. I'm leaving."  (Yay! Thanks!)


I decided to put ticket #40 in my left pocket, and ticket #77 in my right pocket. I couldn't be seen fumbling around with two tickets in case I won. The trick was to remember which number was in which pocket. And, with my memory, that's asking a lot! 


Two more drawings came and went, with the numbers not being close at all to our numbers. Finally, we were getting bored. I mean, how long can you keep wandering around looking at the same underwear over and over? We decided to stay for one more drawing.

The time came. The number was called. "Seventy-seven". "Whoo hoo", I heard myself yell. Then immediately had to stop and think which pocket contained the correct ticket. Luckily, I guessed correctly and went over to claim my prize.


"You've won this lovely tote bag, which is a $50 value, and a makeup bag, a $10 value." 

"Great, thanks", I said as I started looking over the tote bag, and wondering where I would use it. The bag is nice, but it is covered with black and white photos of the models. Maybe it's just me, but the last thing I want to carry around is a bag covered with photos of scantily-clad perfect-bodied women. (I suspect my male readers may have a different perspective.)

But, a plan was forming in my mind.  Since the bag is black and white, I decided to dress the models myself, with my handy-dandy black marker. I felt like I was getting to know these girls pretty well. I finished with one photo, turned the bag around, and said, "Not you again!" , and colored some more. Luckily, I had a big supply of black markers. Jennee says I've ruined the bag. I don't think so, because now I can actually take it out in public.  

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I'm a Geek and a Glutton Part 2

First off, sorry Desiree, I'm calling myself a geek and a glutton, again. I will consider my ears soundly boxed! Ouch! Not so hard!!


After showing you all the beautiful and bountiful veggies Hubby and I brought home from the produce auction, I thought I'd show you how lovely they all look in their new homes/jars.


But, first, in addition to all the veggies I showed you in the previous post, here are some additional fruits and veggies Hubby brought home. Most of the fruit went into our homemade brandies. (Wait until I tell you about that!)

Can't you just smell those sweet peaches?

Peppers

More peppers

Beautiful Bing Cherries!
Oh my gosh, they were soooooo delicious!

So, here is the little story about the cherries. I was not with Hubby on this particular auction venture. But, he had been wanting to get peaches to try peach brandy. And, I wanted a few peaches to can. I will admit, I was a little weary when I saw that we now had a garage full of produce. He also came home with 48 pounds of Bing cherries! He quickly told me he was planning to use those for brandy as well. I love Bing cherries, and quickly checked our list of approved foods for our diet. Yes! They were on the list. (I might have eaten 3 bagfuls myself. ) That still left a considerable amount of cherries that needed attending to. But, I quickly turned them into pie filling. 


These cherries were one of the last things to be auctioned off. There is a "seconds" section, where produce that is past its prime (to put it nicely) is auctioned off just to get rid of it. Usually, the high bidder gets first choice, then everyone gets a chance to take whatever they want, at the same price. He took four "flats" because he wasn't sure of the quality of the cherries. When  he got them home, and we inspected our "deal", we both wished he had brought home much more. Those cherries were gorgeous! Only seven were bad enough to throw away! How much did we pay for them? About 75 cents a pound! 

Peach and Cherry Pie Filling

Bread and Butter Pickles

Peppers

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Project 52 and the HGC diet

I have been slacking quite a bit with my Project 52 updates. August was crazy busy with canning and pickeling everything under the sun! September has been busy with traveling and cleaning up the outside to get ready for w-i-n-t-e-r!


I LOVE Fall, but I sure hate what follows it! Now, I must admit that the past two or three winters haven't been all that bad (for me), due to the constant stream of hot flashes that I had been having. Since I was always so hot, I thought Hubby would appreciate it if I did my part to save some of his hard-earned money by keeping the thermostat set at about 62 degrees. Unfortunately, while I was quite comfortable, everyone else in the house was freezing!  However, today, I'm sitting here with goose bumps all over me, and the temperature is 60 degrees, outside! I'm starting to get nervous that "hotflash season" may be over, and I'll be back to being the ice cube I used to be! 


That had nothing at all to do with Project 52, but, I was on a roll!

The Number 1 goal on my list was to lose 30 pounds. Ten (or twelve) years ago, my goal was to lose 10 pounds. Five years ago my goal was to lose 20 pounds. Do you see a pattern? I have been going the wrong way for quite some time. The "Face the Moment" came when my normally short and stubby fingers started looking more and more like sausages. I had to pull off my wedding rings before they started cutting off the circulation. Not good.


Although I had been able to lose weight before, since entering the "Big M" stage of life, it just was not happening. My size 12 jeans were getting tighter and tighter to where I could barely breathe. Hubby and Amazing Daughter have always fought the weight issue due to super slow metabolism. 


But, this summer, at a family reunion, we discovered a miracle! One of Hubby's seven brothers had recently lost 34 pounds in a ridiculously short time. Now, you may balk at some of the things I'm going to tell you, but you can check it out for yourself. They had read a book, "Fat2Fab" which is available only in Kindle form. We don't have a Kindle, so I just got my info online.


The secret is a hormone called: hCG. And, it is a miracle. It's inexpensive,it's safe, and it works. I repeat, it works! I just now came across this link, and it has excellent information if you want to check into this further. When Brother D said, "They don't recommend exercise while on this because of the low calorie intake." , I was sold. Ok, I just focused on the "don't exercise" part and not the "low calorie" part.


But, I'm getting ahead of myself. This diet was first discovered by Dr. A.T.W. Simeons back in the 1950's. (If you want to give it a try, do your own research. I checked it out, but when it comes to recording facts, I might possibly forget something...) If you want all the scientific reasoning, you might want to buy the book. Or, you can go right here to read quite a bit of info.


We bought our drops at the health food store for $19.95, much cheaper than anything you'll find online, and we got great results.

So, in a nutshell, this is the diet: Days 1 and 2, take 10 drops three times a day. Eat like crazy. Yes, you read that right. Glut yourself. It's called the "Loading Phase". We quite enjoyed those two days. Because on Day 3, you start the Very Low Calorie Diet of 500 calories a day. Yes, you read that right. But, before you start spazzing out, I will tell you that with the drops you don't get hungry. Well, you might get a little "hungry", but you won't be STARVING! The hCG also helps you lose fat from your fat storage areas and not lean muscle areas. There is a very strict list of foods you can eat, and you MUST NOT STRAY from this list. No cheating what-so-ever! With that being said, I must say that this has been the easiest diet I have ever been on!


This may sound a bit unbelievable coming from a sugar/chocolate addict, but the things I craved the most were more vegetables!


Breakfast consists of black coffee or tea. One tablespoon of milk is allowed, if you don't like your coffee black.


Lunch and supper: 3.5 ounces of protein (weight before cooking), 1 veggie, 1 fruit, 1 melba toast. Everything is to be cooked in water or grilled. Grilled burgers, grilled steak, grilled chicken! Who's complaining? One day each week, I measured/cut the meat to size, then grilled everything all at once. Makes fixing the meal a snap! There is no restriction on salt, pepper, or other spices, so we never ate bland food. 


All day: lots and lots of water, coffee, or tea.


That's it.


Here are some examples of what we ate:

Fresh Tomatoes with Basil, Grilled Chicken, Orange

Lettuce Steak and Orange Salad

Chicken, Green beans, and Apple

Fresh Tomato with Basil, Steak, Strawberries

Spinach Steak Strawberry Salad with
Balsamic Vinegar and Melba Toast

Asparagus, Chicken, and Apple

Asparagus, Grilled Burger and Apple

Drink lots and lots of water, tea, or coffee - a gallon!
My system for keeping track of liquids was to put a
button in the dish for every 16 oz. glass I drank

Something else that may surprise you is that there were many times when we were completely stuffed after eating. Ocassionally, we would have to save our fruit to eat later. We were just too full to eat it! I am not kidding!

 Stay on this regiment for six weeks or until you've lost 34 pounds, whichever comes first. Since the three of us are doing this together, we're following Hubby's lead. He lost his 34 pounds in five weeks. (Brother D did it in three weeks!!) Amazing Daughter and I are at 23 and 21. At that point, stay on 500 calories for two days, but discontinue the drops. I was a little worried that I would be starving, but, I (and Hubby and Daughter) have made it through without any problems. 

The next phase is two weeks at 1500 calories, which now sounds like a feast! I think you work up to 1500 calories, and it is recommended to stay away from sugar and carbs. Following that, go three weeks of just eating. This is to re-set your weight and metabolism. When we finish the program, we should be able to eat whatever we want and not gain any weight. If we do find ourselves gaining more than a pound or two, we're to eat a steak and tomatoes. I can handle that. Brother D stayed within a pound. When that phase is finished, and  if you're not at your goal weight, start all over again.

Do you want to know how good those drops work? Someone offered me these brownies. These were more than offered, they were left in my kitchen! I was not even tempted! I am a true chocoholic! I have stashes of chocolate everywhere! I even put my nose down close and inhaled deeply. Nope. Nothin'. I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in my freezer, where they are still sitting! Now, that is sayin' somethin'!

A temptation that I overcame with NO PROBLEM!
(Peanut butter and chocolate brownie)

I had to make a quick stop at the local Goodwill Store, and bought a couple pair of jeans in a size 10. They are loose on me. My wedding rings are back on and are not cutting off the circulation! Whoo hoo! One more phase should do it for me, and I plan to reach my goal. I have never, in my life, actually reached a goal! But this time, I know I will!

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