Christmas prep has started...

Now making my list for Christmas gifts and goodies... and starting to store cookie cannisters and boxes for mailing. Yes, it is only Thanksgiving next week, but that makes Christmas 4 weeks away! In that short time we need to order, buy, clean, and bake - as well as wrap and decorate. 

We usually get our tree the day after Thanksgiving (as well as any live garlands from the local nursery). DH put up our outside Christmas lights yesterday (we don't do the whole house, just across the front). 

There's not much decorating for Thanksgiving... so it goes from Halloween pumpkins to Christmas here. And I like Christmas. It's my 2nd favorite holiday (Easter being my first). But there's more 'magic' in the air at Christmas... not sure why, just always has been for me.

Also next week my youngest granddaughter becomes a teenager (13)! Hard to imagine as the time passed so quickly. 

Oh, and for the longest, the only feral cat that comes to eat regularly has been the one we call Shadow. He was born here in the yard, and once grown had gone off (as most do eventually), but he returned a few months back and has been staying around. Now he has brought a friend, a black female that could well have been part of the same litter.

The reason we believe this is because she comes right up to the door and looks in - like the ones who knew this yard from birth would do. She seems very comfortable and not at all afraid (not that she'd let us too close). Also Shadow has always been a loner... not getting to close to other grown cats. He was good around kittens - and he doesn't seem to mind her eating close to him.

We've been here 40 years and have seen many many ferals come and go. Occasionally we think maybe they come back for the holidays??

And recently, our grandson who lives with us, just had his 27th birthday! He moved in when he was 18 and his parents moved to Hawaii. He tried living there for a bit, but decided he was a Texas boy and moved back. Love having him here! We celebrated with a Tiramisu cake and dinner at a favorite Italian restaurant. Pictures of our dinner following:

My chicken Campanella

DH's Sausage & Peppers 

Grandson's Niko's Special

Bread pudding

Cannoli

And a quick update before I close this, my eye is healing well... one small problem has occurred that is keeping us watching is that my tear duct seems to be partially blocked. Apparently it has nothing to do with my surgeries, but still bothersome. I had the doctor check it and he did something (like put a tube down it and irrigated it?) and said yes, it was partially blocked. I'm using warm compresses, Systane drops, and may use a Rx antibiotic drops if it doesn't clear up soon (there is a surgery... but really really don't want another surgery 😟). If anyone out there has ever had a blocked tear duct  -  I would love to hear any advice or solutions.

a few memes:

That's it!  Wishing you a happy Sunday! 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Update on eye surgery... and a few pics

Starting this update on Monday after last Friday's surgery. All went well as far as we can tell. Eye Plastic Surgeon cut across left eyelid to lower it as it didn't quite come down as far as needed after 2nd surgery. It's swollen and blue, but seems to be ok. I see the doctor for post surgery visit on Thursday, so will know more then... and won't post this until then.

The only complication (which really wasn't one, but seemed like it) came on our way home from the surgical center Friday afternoon around 3pm. We had stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some sourdough bread and while DH went inside, I sat in the car. As he was returning, I noticed the wad of gauze in my hand was quickly filling up with blood... a little bleeding is ok, but this was more than a little... and it kept coming. I filled up another wad of gauze and DH said, "We're going back!" and we did. The doctor checked it right away and it had almost stopped by then. He said that most probably it was a blood clot that just burst.

Anyway, it's the 3rd day after surgery. I can see fine. The eyelid is lower, but still very swollen. We did cold packs for the first 2 days and start on warm compresses several times a day now. 

It's Thursday morning now and was getting ready for doctor appointments when I noticed that the shirt I was wearing and had hung up after my eye surgery last Friday has blood all down the left side. Being otherwise occupied, I hadn’t noticed it till now. Hope it comes out as it’s one of my favorite tops. 

OK, it's now Thursday after 4 pm and my post op visit is over. Doctor checked my eye and seemed a bit disappointed that it is a little 'droopy'... but believes that it's only been 6 days since the surgery and that once the swelling has gone down more, it should be better. Wants me to continue the warm compresses and ointment on the stitches (which are across the top of the eyelid and dissolvable - thank goodness!) And next appointment in one month... but said we will give it 3 months to heal.

This small growth on my left lower lid certainly turned out to be more than I'd expected. I guess I just expected the growth to be taken off... and the area stitched up. Never did I expect it to take 4 surgeries and all this time to heal. But... I'm not complaining. Truth is I'm just glad that the basal cell carcinoma is gone and my sight is not affected. If I end up with a droopy left eye, I really don't care. 

Thanks for putting up with my medical adventure. Sharing things like this helps. Not sure why. Perhaps it makes a person feel that they aren't going through it all alone. And I certainly haven't. DH, my grandson, and my kids have been with me all the way (DH crushing ice and bringing it to me to ice my eye for 10 minutes every 30 minutes the first few days and taking over the cooking, etc. for me on those days). And I love my friends and bloggers encouraging comments and texts. It all helps. Thank you.

a few funnies that fit me lately:

and...

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Voice typing by Microsoft... and a recipe

I wanted to mention a new feature I just found when I went to Word on my computer the other day. It's called voice typing. And you just have to speak - and the words will be typed out for you. Voice typing launcher will appear when. You go to Word on your computer or laptop. The punctuation is a little iffy (as you can see). As it puts a period down whenever you pause. But I still think it's a neat feature.

And could be very useful for those who have any problem with their eyesight. This way they can continue blogging by simply voicing their blog instead of typing it. I'm on Windows 11 and I guess it is a new Microsoft feature. Or if it's not new. Then I just wasn't aware of it. I am using it now, as you can probably see from all the pauses and incorrect punctuation.

I will continue to use it for the first half of this post, just. To see how it works and if it's convenient, possibly for everyone. However, the incorrect punctuation can be a bit annoying...

And here are a few funny tech memes:

and...

There were many of these funny technology memes, but these 3 made me laugh... so I'm sharing.

And will also share this recipe we tried a few days ago that we all liked. It's called The Ultimate Hashbrown Casserole.

Here is a pic:

Ingredients:

4 cups diced smoked sausage

1 cup diced yellow onion

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups whole milk

2 cups chicken broth

4 cups shredded cheese (Colby-Jack) divided (I used 3 cheddar)

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 (30 oz) package of frozen shredded hashbrown potatoes (thawed)

Garnish with chopped green onion and black pepper if desired

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350

In large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat, breaking up meat until browned (about 5 minutes). Then remove from pan with a slotted spoon. Set aside.

Add yellow onion to skillet, cook until tender (about 5 minutes).

Add butter, stirring until melted and add flour, stirring constantly for one minute.

Slowly add milk and broth, stirring constantly. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer until thickened (about 10 mins).

Add 3 cups cheese, stirring, then add sour cream, salt and pepper.

Stir in sausage and hash browns until well combined.

Bake in oven until brown and bubbly (about 45 mins). 

Sprinkle with remaining cheese (1 cup) and bake 5 mins more till cheese is melted. Garnish with green onion and pepper.

This makes a lot! You can cover leftovers in refrigerator and keep for up to 3 days. But I just made half the recipe. It was plenty for the 3 of us and even had some left-over for breakfast.

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

 

 

November 1, 2025 Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!

 

Rabbit! Rabbit! White Rabbit!

Good Morning Everyone! I'm a little late posting this today. But things have been a bit busy around here. Yesterday was Halloween and although we no longer open our doors to trick or treaters (most now go to trunk or treat at the schools), I do make Halloween cookies and candy for my youngest granddaughter (who will be 13 soon! Can't believe that!) and the twin girls next door. 

But we did have a strange thing happen Halloween night. We live at the intersection of 2 streets and have a street light in our driveway. Well, somewhere around 9-10pm or so, we saw activity on our security cameras of about 2 dozen or more people (some grownups, mostly maybe teens) dancing in the street there. Most were dancing, some were taking pics. It went on for about 10-15 minutes. (We were already in bed or would have gone out to check it out). Flash dancing?? Don't know... After about 10-15 minutes they all moved on collectively down the street. 

Our neighborhood didn't have young children for a long time. They did when we moved in 40 years ago, but they've all (including ours) grown and moved on. Then the pandemic hit and Halloween trick or treating was more or less a no-no. Now we are getting an influx of more young people, so perhaps Halloween trick or treaters will become a thing again. We shall see.

Well, that's it. Don't usually post much on Rabbit! Rabbit! day, but wanted to share this... as well as the news that apparently I do need another eye surgery in the next week or so (ugh!). Will keep you updated. 

And I know that most of you know nothing about the video game "Animal Crossing" (which my grandson got me started on at the beginning of the pandemic). It's an island life game (no survival, no winning, just life on an island) very relaxing. Anyway, Nintendo just announced that we are getting a great update in January 2026. I know this means nothing to non-players, but this is something we didn't expect and are really excited about. They will also offer a new Switch 2 with the game plus extras, but the update to the old game (on our old Switches) will be free. So happy and pleased that the Nintendo people did this!

Closing with a video that my son sent that is really funny... if you're into cats.

(you really need to enlarge this by clicking the small square 

on the right side to enjoy it thoroughly. It's hilarious!)

Happy Halloween!

Hugs (virtually),

Rian