It's Hot, Jeff's Make do and Mend and an anniversary

Hello everyone from Hot Oklahoma. I just called our local time and temp message and it said it is 109 right now.

So needless to say, any outdoor housework is getting done first thing in the morning and I am staying in the house with the AC and ceiling fans on. No break in the weather is predicted until at least 12 days out either.

Oklahoma tends to have extreme weather so we are used to it and expect it.

We are praying for rain though as the lack of rain and high heat has devastated crops and livestock.

My husband had knee surgery yesterday - sort of a make do and mend -as his procedure was a scope surgery to clean out his left knee. The doctor said the damage inside Jeff's knee was not as bad as he expected so he just cleaned out the parts that were causing grinding and sewed him back up.

Jeff's surgery was at the Oklahoma City VA hospital and I cannot say enough good things about the care he got there. The news has many sad stories about Veterans who are treated badly and I think it is a shame that all VA centers are not staffed as well as the Oklahoma City VA hospital.

4 years ago this week, Nina and John got married.

This is John and Nina, about 15 months ago

Nina, their baby Elizabeth and John

just last week at Top Sail, North Carolina

Aren't they a cute family?

Happy anniversary

to my favorite daughter and favorite son in law.

John rolls his eyes when I call them that

because they are my only daughter and son in law.

latest make do and mend



My latest make do and mend projects have been to rework the
family photos over the sofa. 
I reframed a few of them and added some mirrors. 
It still needs a few more frames and another mirror to finish it off
so I will keep looking at yard sales.
We also moved the oak rocker and ottoman in the living room and
I sewed a simple slipcover for it. 



wonder where Elizabeth has been?
she enjoyed a week at the North Carolina beach
with her parents and other relatives.
She did give this rocking chair her
seal of approval,  it is good for
wiggling and wallowing on!

Join the party or read about more make do and mend projects at Heidi's
http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

Staycation

We have enjoyed a staycation part of this week. 
One day,  we took grandson Gavin to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks.
Gavin liked this fish display the most.
The fish were at ground level, right where Gavin is. 

I think this was the Oklahoma bass exhibit.

A life size Oklahoma alligator bronze statue
Gavin was very bothered by the rocks inside the gator's mouth
He was not happy until he took
everyone of them out. 

Me,  Grandma Rhonda with Gavin
No, my hair does not always look quite this wild
but it was a windy Oklahoma day. 

All in all,  a staycation has been very nice.  We took care of a few projects around this house,
ate out a couple of times,
did a little shopping and took several naps.

What are you doing this summer? 
I hope whatever it is that you are enjoying it.

watching Gavin grow...with a patriotic theme

the little flag quilt is staying the same but the boy keeps growing!

2009

2010

2011

Gavin,  looking so grown up this year.
He is 2 years and 5 months old. 



Gavin and his Grandpa had lots of fun waving the little
American flags and saying
woo woo   over and over!



Really good cole slaw

sorry this post is wacky - Blogger is not letting me do things like I want to !
this post is all out of order but the recipe is at the end......


I used the exact ingredients as the recipe called for
except I hand cut and grated the vegetables as I don't have a blender.
I also mixed the dressing ingredients in the cole slaw bowl
before I added the vegetables. 



a full recipe makes a lot - this bowl holds 13 cups and and it
is all the way full. 

I've talked about Jo Ann York before.  I read at least one magazine article about her

 and remember seeing her on TV back in the late 70s.  

  http://healingwoman.blogspot.com/  left me a comment last week

 and asked if I by chance had Jo Ann's cole slaw recipe.  

Well,  I did not but it got me thinking about Jo Ann again.  

I've looked for this little paperbook book of hers for a while 

but it usually is listed for a crazy high price.   

When I looked last week,  I found one

 on Amazon for less than $8 so I bought it. 

The seller got it to me so fast too.

Anyway,  I tried the cole slaw recipe first. 

 I only had 1 pound of cabbage so I made just a half batch

 and it is a great recipe, the kind of slaw we like.

It is not a heavy-dressed or super sweet slaw,

 but is dressed just enough and the vegetables are just right. 

We liked it so much,  I made a half recipe on Thursday and then a full recipe today. 

A little more about Jo Ann York, 

 this book was about how she fed her family of 4 for just

$16 a week,  that translates to about $67 in 2011 dollars.

She has some great basic recipes and lots of money saving tips. 

I plan on cooking more of her recipes and will let you know how it goes.