TAMING THE GREY HAIR THINGY!

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I was saddened when I became allergic

to hair dye. I declared that I wouldn't

stop coloring my hair until I was

70 years old. Well, my wake up 

call has come!  It was a silly notion 

anyhow! Situations that happen when

I am aging is not always under my control.

You learn to work with it and avoid the

stress!

I have finally earned to embrace my grey

hair.I must admit that the trend of 

young ladies flaunting grey hair amazed 

me. I began to feel silly. Young ladies 

were not intimidated by grey. Why should

I be scared of looking old?


The truth is any mature woman can look

FOXY with grey hair. The trick I learned

was, I must wear a dynamite hair cut and

keep my natural grey hair healthy looking.

Dull and yellow looking grey hair is a 

No! No!

I have tried several shampoos, 

conditioners, hair strengtheners, 

and curl defining lotions.  I finally

found some hair care products

that worked.  My natural hair is curly

and shiny now.  The hair loss and 

hair thinning have stopped. These

products are available at Walgreens,

eBay, and Walmart. 

Here are images of my favorite hair 

care products:

"OGX" Hydrating Tea Tree

Mint Shampoo & conditioner

Bonner Brothers Black Castor Oil with Rosemary

Palmer's Coconut Oil Leave-in Conditioner

Mane & Tail Leave-in Conditioner

Dr. Miracle's Black Castor Oil with Rosemary

CUTE LITTLE MILO!

MILO TAKING A NAP!


I have procrastinated long enough.
I lost my beloved Raja 2 years ago.
She was a shepherd-mini pen mix.
She lived for 20 years and she died
from cancer. It was tough losing her
because she was the smartest dog
our family has ever owned. My husband
was disabled and she helped him a lot.
She grieved for weeks after he passed.
She refused to go into his favorite room.

IN MEMORY OF RAJA!





I missed having a dog so much. I was
blessed when I met an owner who
had one Jackshund ( Dachshund/Jack
Russell Terrier mix) left from his litter.

https://www.dog-learn.com

He was 3 months old and weighed
ten pounds. This shy fellow, felt
secure when my son held him.  
It was amazing how my son and
I liked the same name, Milo. 

This little pooch is too lively for me.
He insists that this senior lady play
ball with him daily. Let's say he's
made me leave my easy chair!

MILO WITH HIS FAVORITE BALL!



My son and I bought him all
sorts of toys. He seemed to like
playing fetch for balls the most.
He growls at me if I don't play 
fetch.  

Milo enjoys being on the porch watching
cars go by. I'm afraid he appears vicious
when he barks at neighbors walking by.

Milo watching cars go by!

Milo's first snow time!

My son takes him for walks at the park sometime. He always leaves a poop

deposit as soon as he gets there. Of

course, he keeps the pooper scooper

handy. 

Milo is still trying to figure when to

lift his little leg up when he pees.

It is so funny! He was easy to potty
train. He'll come to me while pacing
back and forth. I admit sometimes 
I get busy and miss his scheduled 
potty time.

Milo waking from his afternoon nap!

Milo wants you to play ball!



I must keep alert when I take him in my huge backyard. It has large pine 
trees full of squirrels. He hates them 
and keeps trying to catch them. He 
stops several times with one paw in 
the air. I have learned to be alert
because he'll run after them and
leave me! Our backyard is fenced
in, thank God!

LOOK MARVELOUS HEADBAND!

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I have been collecting pretty scarves for several years. I probably have over 20 scarves. I have filled up 3 scarf holders.
I like to wear with them with my solid colored tops and dresses. I used to just
wear them tied with a simple knot in the front. Thanks to Pinterest and YouTube,
I have learned several new ways to tie 
the scarf around my neck.

I also saw a video on how to make economical head wraps from t-shirts.
I was blown away by this idea. The possibilities were endless if I could 
find plenty of colorful t-shirts. I did
rush to my local thrift store and 
hunted in the binds for nice colorful
t-shirts similar the one shown below:

 

Most of the colorful t-shirts I found were for kids and teens.  I was lucky and found t-shirts with stripes and flowers. I made headbands from the kid's t-shirts. Large
sized t-shirts were great for making
head wraps. I washed and conditioned 
the t-shirts to soften the fabric. I figured rough t-shirt fabric might damage my hair.
I just followed the instructions I found 
on YouTube. This video was made for
ladies who had chemo; however, it 
suited my needs.

Now I have headbands to match all of my outfits.  I was so happy to be so matched up from head to toe! My new headbands
were stored in a clear storage container
I purchased from my local dollar store.  

GREETING!

VALENTINE DESSERTS 4 SWEETHEART #3

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I just remembered that my quick truffles
a recipe would be a good gift idea for my
sweetheart.  I am in luck because my
favorite store has a sale on chocolate
this week.

I started making truffles after the candy companies started cutting back on the mini snack candy bars. Suddenly, the price increased, the bars got skinnier, and
the quantity changed.  

I was watching a cooking channel a few years ago. One of the chefs was making truffles. She just mixed condensed milk and chocolate chips, chilled the mixture, and rolled them into small balls. Eureka! 
I know I can do this!  This was the answer to my chocolate fix problem. I wouldn't
buy the mini snack bars unless they were on sale.

I started making truffles often. I got
better with practice. I have tried using cream cheese and powdered sugar
mixed with the chocolate. My family preferred the condensed milk version. There was some skill required when 
I  flavored and decorated them. 
I bought all kinds of extracts, nuts, and toppings.


Here is my EASY recipe:


LYDIA'S TRUFFLE DELIGHTS



1-24 OZ BAG, SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS

1-14 OZ CAN CONDENSED MILK

FAVORITE PURE EXTRACT TO TASTE

( SUGGESTS VANILLA, RUM, BRANDY, ORANGE  OR PEPPERMINT EXTRACTS)

TOPPINGS: COCOA POWDER, FINELY CHOPPED PECANS, WALNUTS, HAZELNUTS, OR ALMONDS


Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high. Stop and stir chocolate at 1-minute intervals until completely melted. Carefully remove
bowl and stir until smooth. Blend in condensed milk. 

Separate chocolate mixture into 
3 small bowls. Stir in different 
flavor extracts in each bowl. Cover
and chill the bowls in fridge for
2 hours or until firm.

Use a melon baller or an ice tea spoon to shape into 1-11/2 inch balls. Roll the balls in the toppings. 

Separate each flavor of truffles and place in storage containers. Keep the truffles in the fridge until ready to serve.


TIPS: 

**Avoid chilling chocolate mixture
too hard. The melon baller or spoon
can get damaged when scooping.


** Adjust the extracts so just a hint
of flavor. Too much pure extract can 
ruin the taste of the truffles.

** Serve truffles in mini foil or 
holiday baking cups on a pretty
serving platter.

**Rainbow & chocolate Sprinkles,
crushed candy bars & cookies make
great toppings.

VALENTINE DESSERTS 4 YOUR SWEETHEART #2

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Note: Please overlook the font size issues; 
unable to fix this!




It is great when your sweetheart 
loves chocolate as much as you do. 
I love to add fancy touches to my
brownie recipes.I use brownie mixes because it saves me time. Apparently, 
my family doesn't care whether my brownies are from scratch.  They just gobble up the whole pan of brownies
in two days. 

I add cream cheese fillings to my brownies often. I never use plain water in my brownies. I enhance their flavor by using
cold brewed coffee instead.  I even use whatever flavored gourmet coffee I have left over in my coffee maker.

Make your sweetheart feel special 

this Valentine's Day, by adding chopped candy to your brownies. I have enjoyed
adding chopped Snickers, Rolo caramels, Heath toffee bar, peanut and almond flavor M & M's, Milky Way, Baby Ruth, Payday, 
and Andes mints.

Please try my son's new brownie 
recipe. I thought his brownies were
going to be too sweet and rich when
I heard his list of ingredients.  These turned out to be the best brownies
I had ever tasted.

CHEN'S DELIGHTFUL  BUTTERFINGER BROWNIES

FAMILY SIZE TRIPLE CHOCOLATE 
BROWNIE MIX

EGGS, OIL, AND WATER CALLED
FOR ON BOX

6 PACK FUN SIZE. BUTTERFINGER CANDY

4 OZ SWEET GERMAN CHOCOLATE
BAKING BAR, COARSELY CHOPPED

1/2 CUP WALNUTS, COARSELY CHOPPED


FOLLOW DIRECTIONS ON THE BOX FOR CHEWY BROWNIES.

REMOVE PAPER FROM CANDY BARS AND COARSELY CHOP.

STIR IN THE WALNUTS, CANDY. AND CHOCOLATE BAR.  SPREAD BROWNIE BATTER IN GREASED SHEET PAN.

BAKE BROWNIES FOR TIME GIVEN ON 
BOX FOR CHEWY BROWNIES. LET 
BROWNIES COOL. CUT INTO SQUARES.

TIP:  SERVE YOUR SWEETHEART'S
BROWNIES ON LACE DOILY ON
RED PLATE FROM DOLLAR STORE!

VALENTINE DESSERTS FOR YOUR SWEETHEART!

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Please overlook the font differences in my blog. I've been unsuccessful in fixing this problem!




I am a widow and really miss my husband, especially on Valentine's Day. His request was always a large t-bone steak, toss salad, and a chocolate dessert. After 6 years
of widowhood, I have learned to enjoy Valentine's Day. Sometimes I go out to eat with other widows on this special day.  If all of my lady friends happen to be busy,
I have a backup plan! I have a steak dinner and dessert in honor of my husband!



Since I am a chocolate lover who loves 
to experiment with new chocolate concoctions! I was pondering what
Valentine dessert could I treat myself 
with this year.  I had cans of cherries 
but was not in the mood for cherry pie.
I had tasted chocolate cherry coffee 
and bagels. I wondered was there such
a thing as chocolate cherry pie? 


I looked online and sure enough, I saw 
a recipe for a chocolate cherry slab pie.  This pie looked tasty and it had a lattice top crust. This recipe required making the filling and pie crust from scratch. No way, was I doing that!
I already had 2 prepared pie crusts and 
2 cans of pie filling.  I just rolled out the bottom crust thinner so it would fit my
sheet pan.  I rolled out the top crust and
cut it into long 1 inch strips.  I just added
1/ 2 teaspoon almond extract and 1/2 cup
mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to the cherry pie filling.

Here is an image of my chocolate cherry
slab pie, the easy version:

This pie was extra tasty with a dollop
of whipped cream. This pie will be made again for Valentine's Day. 

I remember when my mom used to make
a family pie years ago. She sliced sweet potatoes, sprinkled them with sugar, nutmeg, and cinnamon. She finished the pie by adding a bottom crust in a sheet pan. A lattice crust was placed on the
top. So the new trend slab pie is an updated version of the old fashioned family pie.