RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY!

A lot of things have been going on the past couple of weeks. To begin with, it started raining and I was beginning to think that Noah would be showing up soon. Our pool man, Mark, came by for his usual weekly visit.

Not everyone has a long time friend who not only cleans the pool but talks on the phone while doing it. He and our son, Franklin grew up together and he used to live right around the corner.
Anyway, when he left, the pool looked wonderful (as always) and then the heavens opened up!

It rained nearly 10 inches in a little over 3 days and we thought the pool was going to go over the top. I don't mean drizzle .. it was constant rain. When it finally subsided, the front porch was covered with worms!

The poor little things had drowned. I didn't realize they can't swim. Maybe that's why they make such good bait to fish with. they can't get away if they have drowned!
Now .. on to things more pleasant. The procedure I had 2 weeks ago was working pretty well, so I was in a cooking mood. I found a recipe in my "Pass the Polenta" book for baked chicken, so I decided to fix that. It was the first time in a long time that I had felt like undertaking something that would keep me up and about for any length of time. I also thought that I would make a pie .. that sounded yummy to me!

There's nothing better or more American than home made apple pie a la mode!
As I was in the middle of this, I received a call from the kids and they said that they would like to come and see us. Frank hurried to the store and bought more supplies and I started my cooking marathon. I cleaned and trussed two large chickens,

and popped them into the oven. When the family arrived, the house was filled with the aroma of garlic, rosemary, sage and chicken roasting and it smelled heavenly.
The adults had a nice visit inside while the boys swam in the rain. Since there was no lightning it was OK. When they got tired of swimming, they came inside with us.

I had ordered the game, "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" the week before, so we decided to play while the food was cooking. It's a great game and everyone can play.

Harry, our Grand dog, was worn out from his swim, so he decided to snuggle down on a couch pillow and have a nap.

He wanted to play but the questions were too hard for him ;-)
When the chickens were ready they looked wonderful!

The boys both said that it was the best chicken they had ever eaten and that was a REAL compliment since the youngest one, Connor, only eats fried chicken. They even cleaned their plates for a change. I was so thrilled. My efforts had not been in vain.

I also made parsleyed potatoes and they were delicious as well.
I even threw in some English Peas for good measure but they were not well received by anyone under the age of 30!

The meal was a big success so my mission was accomplished. In fact, there was enough left over that we had 2 more meals from the left overs!
On Wednesday of last week, they performed the "big" procedure on my back ... the Rhizotomy. All went fairly well. I had a T-shirt that had a pattern on it with similar colors as those in my doctors apron, so I decided to wear that. Thought we could look like twins and we would have if he wasn't much younger and cuter.
There was a male nurse who tried to put the port in for the anaesthetic and he couldn't find a vein. OUCH!

You can see the look I was giving him as he was fishing for the vein. Look at my hand now and it gets worse looking by the day! When he did this to me it puffed up like a balloon! I was NOT a happy camper.

It really hurt and it looks worse as the days go on!
Fortunately that was the only hitch in the procedure and I'm feeling much better now. I'm in very little pain now and hopefully we'll be able to make the trip we have planned in a couple of weeks.
Our Book Club at the church has started back up (we took a break over the summer) and we're studying Dante's Inferno.

And to think I thought that Henry VIII's book was hard . Well, let me tell you, this book is no walk in the park. As a matter of fact, it's Hell!
Some good friends have just bought a new home and they had us over for dinner a couple of nights after my procedure. Their new home is beautiful and the food was delicious. I'm hoping that she will share these recipes with me.

We had Fettuccine Alfredo with shrimp, asparagus and mushrooms and Chess Pie for dessert. Larapin!!!

She always sets a beautiful table and that night was no exception.

Then the next night we went to a concert with some friends we go to church with. There is a group called the Good Times Singers and the evening as well as the entertainment was wonderful. It's a local all male chorus that is similar to the Vocal Majority. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner served by the wives of the singers which was followed by the performance. Their voices and the blending of harmony was glorious.

As I said before, my back is doing much better so since I didn't have to walk too far and didn't have to carry anything, I got along just fine at these two outings.
Our youngest grandson, Connor, celebrated his 10th birthday last Saturday. He loves to cook, so we gave him cooking lessons at Sur la Table in Dallas for his gift. Here is the card I made for him. Photoshop is a wonderful tool.

He's going to learn how to make bread and pretzels. We did not attend the party but here is a photo of him opening his card. It was a "kids only" affair :-)

Our former priest's wife makes these adorable dolls. Here is her latest project. I love it! She's called "Little Pouty Pumpkin" and I think she's absolutely adorable.

She's ready just in time for Halloween! She makes the entire doll and her work is amazing.
An artist friend reminded me that there was to be a special on TV about the life of Georgia O'Keeffe. It was on a few days ago and I couldn't wait to see it. Several years ago when we were all painting at a lake house, I decided to do an O'Keeffe portrait from a photograph that Alfred Stieglitz had taken of her. I really miss those paint outs. There was a great camaraderie there and we accomplished so much when we painted together.

Below is my painting with my interpretation of this photograph.

It's painted in watercolor and I don't think it's bad as one of my first portrait attempts, even if I do say so myself!
Guess I'd better go and fix Papa some breakfast. It's starting to rain again. Hope my feet don't get webbed as we're feeling like ducks here in Texas!

It's dark and dreary and a good day to stay inside, study and read. At least everything looks wonderfully green and healthy!
Thanks once again to all of you for your prayers for my health. I'm doing so much better and hopefully in a few weeks I'll be pain free. I'm blessed to have you for friends.
XOXO, Pcasso