Dinner Out with Friends

I am happy to report that I finally went out to dinner with friends for the very first time in months the other night!!! It has been so long since I had a night dinner out with friends. (Side note - restaurants here in Southwestern PA are again closed so it's good we got it in before they closed again - HA!)

I met up with two of my favorite people; Kathy and Carol.

We met up at the Walnut Grille in Fox Chapel. This required me to drive over the rivers in Pittsburgh and head to the "other side of the city" from The South Hills. If you live in Pittsburgh you know what I mean.

We rarely travel over the river to other areas - HA!

here we are in our outdoor seating on the patio. Now masks were required when you got to you table outdoors. We did however keep social distance and no hugging....sadly! I felt super safe though.

Carol brought Kathy and I a birthday cake! Mine was in May and Kathy in June. We had not been able to get together since February!!! WOW! She is sooo super thoughtful - it was delicious!

One more picture before parting ways. Dinner lasted for 4 hours - we had so much to catch up on!!  I love these ladies!!! We are planning a Top Golf ladies get together at the end of July if it is still open then - fingers crossed.

That day I got new masks from my company. They sent each employee two and they are super comfy - thanks Bayer!! I am going to be so sad when my time there is over - it's getting closer every day :-(

I hope everyone is happy and safe!!

Thanks for stopping by and HUGE HUGS TO EVERYONE!!

Have you eaten out in a restaurant yet? Have you met up with friends at all? Did you feel safe? Do you know anyone that has been infected with Covid 19? Are you safe and well? How are you feeling today?

Beach House Fresh Condo

Happy Thursday everyone!!!

One of my very favorite quarantine projects was painting my condo. it had not been painted in 15 years and it needed done so desperatly.

Quarantine gave me to time and excuse to paint...there was LITERALLY nothing else to do! HA

Here are the pictures I took....

Here is the color difference after edging. I chose "Beach House" by Baer as my color.

It is so nice and clean and fresh now! I am so happy I did it!

Remember my cat that was so scared she would not leave under the bed? Well, after months of using Jackson Galaxy's Stress Reliever and Grouch sprays, Grace is finally venturing out with the other cats.

This is her on the top of the cat tree with Nermie below...

And this is Grace and her sister Faith sitting at the back door getting fresh air. See how large she is??? That is from months of hiding under a bed. She is starting to lose that weight quickly now that she is movng around.  The only cat she does not hang out with is Trouble...they are NOT friends but I do not know why...

I also hing this awesome hammock swing on my porch!! I love sitting out here!!! It is hard for me to want to come in. It is sooo comfy!

I got a little update from work...it looks like I may be done in September. Then the job hunt begins...yippee.

I hope you are all well and so many HUGS to you all!!!!

Random Quarantine Pictures

Happiest of Wednesdays to you all!

Enjoy heading over the hump to Friday today!!!

This is going to be a totally random post of pictures from quarantine. 

I think I will be catching up on posts for months to come.

I spent a TON of time snuggling with my cuties these past few months.

I saw this on Instagram and it is so fitting!!! I have survived so many things in my life and I could totally relate to this post! HA!

More snuggle time...kitty butts on your cold feet are the best!!!

Even more butts HA!!!

One of the cats started doing this every time I left the house. I have no idea which one but I should have tried to turn on the camera and catch him/her. Its all my slippers that I have in a basket at my door and they lay them out down the hallway. No clue what this means! HA!!

This is a photo from the first weekend we saw my parents. My sister and I were in Florida with them when the quarantine hit but when we all got home we all stayed away for about a month and then started going up on the weekend to visit but not staying overnight. We did not start hugging them or staying over the weekend until June. Right or wrong; at this point I think we are just over it.

The kids were so happy to be outside fishing!

I think my Dad (Poppy) was too!

You can see Mom was!!

I warned my nieces and nephews of this. Once we were allowed to hug it was a struggle to let go!

My Dad volunteered to cut my nephews hair - he did a great job. There were no other takers....HA!

The cats had a ton of catnip parties!!

My and my parents went over to my Aunts house to stain her deck. My Mom power-washed the weekend before and then we spent the day staining it. This is the deck before staining but after power-washing. Little note here - my dad built this deck for her. He is a retired engineer and his building skills are amazing!!

That's Dad!!!! Left side of the picture is after stain...

There's Mom! She is an unbelievable worker at 76!!! Both of my parents have stayed super active and that is why they are so healthy now. Fingers crossed they will be with us for many more years!!!!

More snuggles...

We also played a lot of games at my parents house! LOL! So much family bonding fun! That is my little sister in the lovely hat! HA

And lastly, big cat in little house! LOL!! HA!!!

Hugs to everyone!!! Happy Wednesday!!!

Grandma Wells' Homemade Bread

Happy Friday everyone!!!

So happy to have made it to the weekend!

I will be heading out tomorrow to spend the weekend with my parents (and sister and her kids) on their lake!! 

On of my very favorite things I did over quarantine was jump on the baking train.

My Grandma Wells used to bake us homemade bread and we looked forward to it every time we went to her house!

My father watched her bake it one time and wrote down the recipe. After she passed away a few years ago, my father started baking the homemade bread and it is perfect and tastes exactly like hers.

So, over quarantine I decided it was a good time to try baking it myself. We do it like my Grandma Wells did it; the old fashioned manual way - no bread baking machine needed.

So, before the baking part - let's meet my beautiful Grandma Wells!! She was always laughing and joking and was soo loving and sweet!!

This is her at a family picnic in the 80's...

And this is her with her sisters. She is on your left and the my Aunt Martha was in the middle and Aunt Laura on your right.  They are all departed but sooo very missed everyday!

So, here is the Homemade Bread recipe. My Grandmother said she learned how to make it from her mother and she came to America from Switzerland so I am guessing this is how the Swiss make bread. Sorry for my crappy writing. If you decide to try this recipe and have any questions because of my terrible writing; just email me and I will clarify it.

This is the first time I have tried to make bread so it was neat watching the yeast get all foamy...here I am ready to go with my foamy yeast and dough hook on the Kitchenaide (So I guess it was not all manual as I used the mixer) but my Grandmother did all the mixing and kneading by hand.

After the dough is all mixed; you put it in a bowl and cover it and let it rise until it doubles itself.

Then you cut the dough in half and put it into your baking pans and cover them and let them double again.

Then you bake it! Simple, right?!? It turned out sooo yummy!!! I made it a few times and shared with neighbors but then had to stop baking it as I was eating WAYYYY TOOO MUCH myself! HA

Thank you for the memories and recipes Grandma Wells! Every time I eat or smell her bread (no matter who bakes it) I am transported right back into her tiny kitchen that I remember so fondly from my childhood! It was packed with people, love and delicious food and hugs!!

I love you and miss you daily Grandma Wells!!!

Did you bake during the quarantine? Do you enjoy baking? Ever bake bread? Do you have a food or smell that reminds you of someone special in your life??

Hugs to you all!!!!!!! Have a great day!

Liberty Rocks

As I mentioned in my last post; I came home from vacation after the quarantine had already begun and he hoarding had already begun in Pittsburgh, PA.

I found groceries and staples and then thought it would be nice to get a few puzzles. So, off I went to target and there were NONE left on the shelves!! People had hoarded puzzles also!!! I was out of luck!!

I went home and tried to find one online and on Amazon and none were left ANYWHERE!!! 

The I thought maybe I could find a different kind of puzzle.

So I went back to Target and bought the one of the only Lego sets that was left!! HA! I think it was left because of the cost but it was sooo much fun to put together!!!! I am now addicted to Architecture Legos!! I put this together and took it apart multiple times. I think I completed it a total of four times and then I took it apart again and gave it to my nephews so they could put it together too.

Here it is in steps...

Like I said, it was super fun to build and it is so life-like in the end! Awesome!

During quarantine I also spent many many hours snuggling with all my furry babies. I think they are really going to suffer when I have to go back to working in a building and not at home. We have all become super tight through this quarantine.

Another favorite thing during my quarantine time was swinging on my porch and staring at this tree. It is sooo beautiful in the Spring...this picture does not do it justice!

Closer.....

Just a couple of my snuggle buddies...

Sooooo cute!!!!!!

I hope you all are having a great week!! 

Did you puzzle during the quarantine? What were your families favorite activities to spend time? Are you still quarantined or have you go back to work and you "outside" routines?

HUGS to everyone!!!!