Cheap Sun Dresses, a Recipe and a Giftaway Winner!

Okay, yes, I'm late again with lots of stuff to catch up on. First, let me announce and congratulate the winner of last month's Giftaway, Irma's Rose Cottage! Irma, please email your snail mail info to me so I can get your Giftaway package in the mail to you!

Secondly, the reason for my absence: It hasn't been all computer problems. In fact, I can only blame the computer for a day and a half - at a stretch, possibly two days. It was just a life thing that I won't bore you with. (You know it has to be absolutely boring for me not to blog, since I blog about everything.) However, I was having a problem with Windows after my CCG (Cute Computer Guy) rebuilt my (formerly) emachines computer. He tweaked a few things for me and upgraded a couple things. I haven't had any problems since I've gotten it back. Do me a favor and, anytime you get a computer error message send it to me. If this computer runs as smoothly as I think it will, I'll need new excuses to look at him. It's an eye candy thing, Girls. LOL.

Need a simple sun dress? Here's a frugal tip: Wally World (and probably all places selling fabric) has bolts of fabric suitable for a one-seam top or sun dress. One side has been gathered in a smocking style. The instructions will be at the end of the bolt, with the price (usually under $13/yard). Don't pay attention to the instructions. Instead, wrap the gathered end around your chest and judge the amount of fabric that you'll need. I followed the instructions and bought too much fabric; I could have saved about $4 (roughly a third of a yard) if I had known to do this at that time. If your hips are larger than your bust, disregard this tip unless you plan on making a top. If you are making a dress, you may find it to be a little tight around the hips. This fabric is looong, ladies! It hit the floor with me. I originally intended to keep it long, didn't even hem it because the selvedged edge was on the bottom and this is something I wasn't planning to wear away from my back deck. I've since decided to cut the bottom to mid-knee length and put in a hem.

One of my neighbors was scheduled to have a back surgery yesterday morning. I volunteered to take her to the hospital; she needed to be there at 5:30 A.M. I waited in the lobby with her until she was called into the prep area, then sat and talked with her daughter-in-law for a few minutes longer before returning home.

Later in the afternoon I found out that she had been prepped for the surgery, given the anesthesia and taken into surgery before it was discovered that there was a major miscommunication between her doctor's office and the hospital. The hospital didn't have everything that was necessary for her operation. The surgeon ended up shooting some cortisone into her back and sent her home. The hospital personnel apologized profusely for the error and gave her a $10 gift certificate to Target. Can you imagine? My poor neighbor is still in major pain and has no idea when the surgery will be rescheduled. Plus, it will cost a minimum of $10 in gas to get to the nearest Target.

Recipe time! This is simple - the most time-consuming part is pre-frying a few strips of bacon. No measuring, either - it involves pasta and only you know how much your family will consume!

You'll need: Even number of Boneless chicken (breast or thigh) pieces, bacon, garlic salt, small onion, shell pasta (or penne, or even wide noodles or do as I did and mix the remains of open packages together), 1 can cream of chicken soup

You'll want to pre-fry and drain a few strips of bacon to avoid excess grease.

On half of your chicken pieces: Sprinkle a little garlic salt, some chopped onion and grated cheddar cheese. Place an untreated chicken piece on top and wrap a slice of pre-fried (not crispy) bacon around it. Secure with a toothpick. Bake at 350 for a half hour OR pop the chicken on the grill until it's done.

Meanwhile, cook and drain the pasta and stir in the cream of chicken soup. Fold this and the cooked chicken pieces together and serve with a side veggie (I chose peas).

As for now, I'm off to tackle today's task list. Be sure to check back soon for my June Giftaway prize package!

As always, keep grinnin' -

Sher

A Wordless, Pictureless Week

Disaster struck our household last Saturday morning. My computer went belly-up!

First, it wouldn't stop running. The sound it was making reminded me of a car engine that was idling 'way too fast. It wouldn't reboot, then it wouldn't turn on at all. Belly-up. Lifeless. Dead.

I became transfixed on Monday morning. Forget appointments, weekend laundry, grocery shopping and housework. Nothing was more important than getting the computer well and running.

Luckily, the first call I made struck gold. I was able to find a wonderful genius computer doctor, one who understands and actually enjoys working on computer guts.

Computerless for a week, my life as I had come to know it was completely changed. No more email communication, blog surfing. But, to my own surprise, I came to realize how much I depend on this wonder of technology. For example, Jerod (the computer genius) gave me excellent directions to his location - a good thing, since I could not mapquest it. Information on gasoline prices, Obama vs Clinton, stock news would have to wait for the 6:00 News. Strawberries were on sale but I could not remember how "safe" they are for a diabetic's menu. (Where in the world did I put those charts? If I had my computer, I could look it up in a matter of seconds.) My son put in an offer on a possible investment property. Too bad I couldn't look it up on the net! This was the week for me to check on stove prices. What? Spend gas money and time to drive around to comparison shop? No way! And this is still Monday, not yet 2:00!

As it turned out, my processor was fried, which (after a conversation with my son who lives two states away) was expected. The motherboard was damaged; the power supply was doing its job but, for good measure, I had it replaced. By Saturday afternoon, a whole week later, my computer was once again home on my desk and running smoothly.

Here are some pictures I would have posted last week: Baby robins: My iris are all in glorious bloom: Too bad azalea blooms last for only a few days: I love the pink bush behind our home, but we also have yellow, orange, and red bushes as well. Have a wonderful week!