WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR JANUARY 2016

nccarolb

I think I am going to start a blog entitled "Church: From the Inside." Today, I walked into the building and was be-bopping my way down the hall to my office and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a package on the porch of another entrance. As I said mildly insulting things to the unknown delivery person for his stupidity in leaving a package with no one to sign for it, I proceeded to go pick up the package from outside. However, as I got a little closer, I realized that the package was actually a 'ball' of beach towel. Oh dear God, I thought, someone has left a baby on the doorstep! Then I read the note attached. "Pastor ______, please bless my cat. He hit a car. His name is Christmas." Holy crap on a stick! (That's not really what I said, but, you know, church and all.) Someone has left a dead cat on our doorstep with a plea for a blessing. I could go all mushy here but, well, that's not my style. WTH am I going to do with a freakin dead cat?!?!

To be continued when aforementioned pastor gets here and sees the frozen dead cat on our doorstep.

nccarolb

Sorry for all the double posting stuff. Computer was acting like it wasn't positing at all!

GRITSandSLUTSandWINOS

Cracker sleeps alone; but, she sleeps right beside my chair in her bed. Oh goodness, to have my cell phone by my chair and ‘on’. She sometimes rolls over on her back and sleeps. It is so funny. She also rolls over to play with her toys. Last night she was shaking one and threw it up in the air and it landed on one of the chairs and then jumped up to get it down. It cracked up my DH and me. It was like, ‘where did you go, where did you go’?

Mindy – One thing you need to know if you cannot pay your credit card bill, is somethings they freeze or close the account if you are unable to pay the minimum. At least that is what mine told me when I did not think I could pay the minimum charge that also include extra because I had gone over the minimum. I came up with the money because I did not want it closed. But, I also have just one card because I decided to move the balances over to it for one year of ‘interest free’. The only problem with that was the 'transfer fee', which the person helping me failed to advise me of; but, much better to pay the extra than to pay 22.99% interest on 5 different cards. My Dad thought that 3% was too high when credit cards came out and were giving them to anybody – even ‘if’ they could not pay. He represented several people in filing bankruptcy because they had maxed out 5 or more of them. But, of course, he's been dead since 1985 and things have certainly changed a whole lot.

Katla – Thanks; I’ll be wearing my other pants because my jeans are falling off me. So, I need to wash a load of my clothes today to have something to fit me. I need to wash clothes even ‘if’ they were not all in the dirty closes. One more cabinet on the bottom and the drawers and I’ll be finished with the lower cabinet space. Something either got turned over or it came through and it is sticky really bad; so I might have to pour warm (hot) water in the tray to get it out. YUK. I was washing down the cabinets and my DH came in and said I looked like a 'plumber' with my butt crack showing. Will give me a chance to go through the boxes/cans to make sure they are ‘in date’. Checking my freezer and cabinets is the first thing my DYS does when he is home. I need to get the stuff out of my house. But, there is probably little I will have to throw out, this time. I need to rearrange my freezer, too. Not really looking forward to that. I have the Marie Kondo book ‘on hold’ at the local library so when they get it back in, I can check it out. I’m going to go through all my clothes and keep the stuff that needs to be altered in one drawer. I hate thinking about cleaning my closet. So much in such a small closet.

jalapenotech – You’re here, so you have joined. Just need to remember that barbiecat posts a link on the last day of the month so you can ‘bookmark’ the new month by going to the page after you have followed the link and click on the outline of the star, so it will turn yellow. The next time you come back, click on the gray star between the gray bell and gray gear; and, then you will be posting in the correct month; it will throw down a list of sites, maybe this one and any others you have gone to recently.

Grandmallie – Does your husband happen to take any type of ‘blood thinners’? Has he started taking any kind of ‘new’ meds? They can cause bleeding, especially under the skin. I’d go back to the MD and explain to him/her what has been happening (especially, if it occurs again). Glad you were able to get it to stop enough to get a band aide on it. I know when I take an 'antibiotic' I bruise a lot and my skin starts feeling really thin; so any time I hit something a big bruise will appear.

Does anybody think that Ted Cruz looks like a little rat? Beady eyes and thin, sharp nose? I'm surprised there have not been any 'satirical' cartoons showing that. LOL! I don't care what Trump says about 'his' hair; it still looks strange - he has to be doing a comb over - or several of them; come over the left side, comb over the back; then the right and then back from the front. Tina Fey (SNL) sure has her "Sarah Palin" spoof down very good. They really do look a lot alike.

ncarolb - Sad about the cat; must have really been a 'beloved' cat; but, strange ... at our Catholic Church they have a Sunday on which you can bring your pet to be 'blessed'. I've never gone; I'd think it has the possibility of being a real 'circus'. Yesterday at the vet one of the dogs had an accident - it almost cleared out the waiting room. Sick!

Third time; that the 'post' won't work for me. ????? Now it looks like it is going to work. Maybe because someone was posting and it was going to take it to another page. ?????

Lenora

Lilymay2

Good morning...

I have been here, reading posts. I am working really hard on purging and keeping a shinny sink. Feels good when you pass through the kitchen in the morning and everything is clean.

Rained again last night so it is going to be a slippery commute to town today

Lillian in West Central Saskatchewan

mollywhippet

Bad news for me this morning. I accidentally showered using thickening shampoo instead of body wash. I can feel myself plumping up as we speak.

My son pulled another no-show this morning. He was supposed to come over yesterday to make a yarn bowl for his wife but couldn't make it for some reason. He said he would come along this morning when I took the kids to school and we could go straight to the studio from there. So, last night I cancelled my workout with my friend, only to find that he couldn't make it this morning either. He said he had a bad night last night and needed to sleep. I know he has problems and that I should be more sympathetic, but he really is quite inconsiderate in regard to wasting my time. He always has been. Nowadays he can blame it on his illness if he just isn't in the mood or makes other plans, and I suspect he often does. This yarn bowl was his idea, not mine, but I rearranged my life for two days now to make it happen for him. Sometimes I'm just a selfish bi**h. Then I'm ashamed of myself for being so selfish and petty.

We are supposed to have another nice day here. Yesterday we hit 60 degrees, today it's supposed to be 67!!!!! In January!!! Amazing weather.

Well, I guess I should get busy doing my own stuff in the studio. Have a great day everybody!

Sylvia

terri_mom

Happy Monday ! ! !

Lenora – rah-rah ! for drinking more water.

Sylvia – what a strange and scary story about the school mixing up your DGS for another child. That was a stressful day for you. I hope you are refreshed now for another.

Michele – I thought of you when my DD texted singing the praises of Aldi. It is a 30 minute drive for her, but it’s good to read her excitement about saving money on groceries.

Allison – I would be worried about Tom’s symptoms, too! Hugs and Prayers ! ! !

To paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy ; If you live where someone stole $50,000 worth of cheese – you might be from Wisconsin. I love my cheese but $50,000 worth? I don’t think I could eat all that in my lifetime if I tried. People can be strange ! Plus, the news said yesterday that there were large cat footprints in the snow leading up to a deer carcus, so I guess the Milwaukee Mountain Lion was hungry again. If it is really out there I hope someone catches it soon.

Thanks for all the prayers and positive thoughts for my DD and her friends. A Walgreens gift card that I ordered arrived yesterday, and I mailed it to her right away. The only instruction is to take the kids shopping for cereal or such; the kind of meals or snacks that most people forget.

When I programmed my fitness tracker on Wednesday I made my goal only 5000 steps, because I wanted to succeed, and I did. So I increased the goal for Thursday to 6000 steps, and I reached that. Now today I have it set at 7000. I’m worried that I won’t succeed today, because my left foot is having a flare, and I’m not a big fan of purposely inflicting pain. We’ll see how it goes. I still plan on using the bike and handbike. But there is so much about this thing that confuses me. And I feel like I shouldn’t have to reboot it every day. I will have to read the instructions soon, so I can get the maximum benefits from it.

I still did not read back to what I had missed, but sending lots of Love and Hugs to Everyone ! ! !

Terri in Milwaukee

csofled

nccarolb wrote: »

I think I am going to start a blog entitled "Church: From the Inside." Today, I walked into the building and was be-bopping my way down the hall to my office and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a package on the porch of another entrance. As I said mildly insulting things to the unknown delivery person for his stupidity in leaving a package with no one to sign for it, I proceeded to go pick up the package from outside. However, as I got a little closer, I realized that the package was actually a 'ball' of beach towel. Oh dear God, I thought, someone has left a baby on the doorstep! Then I read the note attached. "Pastor ______, please bless my cat. He hit a car. His name is Christmas." Holy crap on a stick! (That's not really what I said, but, you know, church and all.) Someone has left a dead cat on our doorstep with a plea for a blessing. I could go all mushy here but, well, that's not my style. WTH am I going to do with a freakin dead cat?!?!

To be continued when aforementioned pastor gets here and sees the frozen dead cat on our doorstep.

OMGoodness!

Cheri NE oHIo

pipcd34

.

kimses2

30 min P90x3 Yoga done.
Now, time to study for an interview at 11 followed by hair appointment. Will try to get 30 min elliptical in also.
I was down 2 lbs. this morning (and I've been busting my butt for that ).

Kimses in MA

dlmcgowan93

Hi everyone!

This group is so active and supportive of each other and I have hit and miss the reading then run out of time to write something. I have not been able to keep up but look forward to getting to know everyone better!

I have been focusing on eating better and drinking water. It is really hard for me to get the water in but I continue to be mindful. Dinner is the difficult meal for me. We are meat eaters and my DD is semi-picky, so I haven't changed things up yet. So far, I watch what I eat during the day and try to be very aware of portion control at dinner. So far, so good. I have been exercising using the Wii Dance every other day and next week I will start doing the Wii steps on the alternate days. We have two family weddings this year, my sister's in June and my older DD in October. So my goal is to look and FEEL better for those events.

to all whether you need it or not!

Denise from small town IL

fanncy0626

Chris - lots of prayers and good wishes being sent to you today!

Kim - you are doing so well with your exercise! Good luck with your job interview!

Allison - I agree that you should be worried about Tom. I would call the nurse helpline just to make yourself feel better or at least know what to tell him about what the problem could be.

Sylvia - you definitely are not a selfish person at all! If I were you I would not change my plans at all until the day that he is supposed to do things with you. I'm sure your friend would understand if you talk to them in advance.

Have a great day everyone!



Mary from Minnesota

kimses2

I'm dying laughing here. Better get that cat blessed before it gets warmer out.

nccarolb wrote: »

I think I am going to start a blog entitled "Church: From the Inside." Today, I walked into the building and was be-bopping my way down the hall to my office and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a package on the porch of another entrance. As I said mildly insulting things to the unknown delivery person for his stupidity in leaving a package with no one to sign for it, I proceeded to go pick up the package from outside. However, as I got a little closer, I realized that the package was actually a 'ball' of beach towel. Oh dear God, I thought, someone has left a baby on the doorstep! Then I read the note attached. "Pastor ______, please bless my cat. He hit a car. His name is Christmas." Holy crap on a stick! (That's not really what I said, but, you know, church and all.) Someone has left a dead cat on our doorstep with a plea for a blessing. I could go all mushy here but, well, that's not my style. WTH am I going to do with a freakin dead cat?!?!

To be continued when aforementioned pastor gets here and sees the frozen dead cat on our doorstep.

oceanmelody

Morning, ladies! FYI I have been changing things up with settings and my user name has changed. Still the same old me.
And Carol, I cannot get over your cat story...I do not know what I would do in your situation!
Betty

DamitJanit

Call me crazy but I love to see other people happy and succeeding .

Good Morning Ladies,

Katla, cute breakfast of Cadbury eggs.

Mindy, congrats on the undies fitting! Hang in there. We are all with you.

Linda, glad you are feeling better. Keep it up.

Vicki, NE, congrats on the van? I think? Not sure how happy you are about it. I do know what you mean about a car payment. I try to avoid them at all cost.

Pip, watch your mouth, Girl!!! And the kids, too!

Carol NC, congrats on all your numbers being good. My thyroid meds have been lowered since I lost weight but that is the one that I’ve been on for years and don’t expect to get off of. A big hooray for the weightloss.

Allie, great news from your brother. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Mindy,. It certainly sounds like you got a lot done yesterday. Good for you!!!

Karen, your DH sounds like mine. Don’t ya love ‘em? I was always talking about things going on with my friends here and telling DH stories and that is when I came up with the name “fat chat”. Then one of the ladies here suggested we were cooler than that and called it “Phat Chat”. I just love all of you ladies but not enough to give much of a response on my phone. I only record my food on the phone when I have to. Give this gal a computer, no matter how small.

Sylvia, sorry you had to drop everything to go get your DGS but glad he wasn’t sick afterall.

Katla, glad your riding lesson only got moved and not cancelled. I know how you love it.

micheleNC, I heard some ladies talking at the nail salon the other day that said we are going to be getting an Aldi. I’m so excited if it’s true. I have really missed it since we moved from Charlotte.

Jalapenotech, welcome. You joined by posting. Pretty easy, eh? Now please tell us about yourself so we can get to know you. You said you had been morbidly obese and need to lose 15 lbs? Does that mean you have lost a lot of weight already? If so, a huge congrats! We also ask that you sign each post with the name you want to be called and a location, general or specific. Come often and join right in.

NJ Linda, good to see you. Even if you can’t catch up let us know how you are. Sometimes it’s just impossible to read all the posts unless we make it a full time job. Lol

Heather, so glad you finally got the phone mess straightened out, even if it took way too long. Hope the ear gets better soon and sorry to hear about your brother. You take care. (((Hugs)))

Karen, if you take “One step, one bite at a time”, you will be successful. Good for you and “You Go Girl”!!

Allie, you are such an angel to help with not only DFIL but Faith as well! I hope Tom is okay and the bleeding isn’t a sign of something. Men can be such &*(%’s about not going to the doctor. Ppffttt

Chris, I hope whatever is going on will end well. Sending prayers your way.

NCCarol. First of all, I didn’t get a double posting from you. Strange about the cat. I’m interested to hear more.

Sylvia, I hate that you used thickening shampoo all over your body!!! Maybe you need to get some steel wool to scrub it off??? I guess I’m just a selfish bi**h too because I would not rearrange my day for DS again. Two times of changing your plans for him to no show is enough. How are the plans for the coop going? Will it be at your studio?

Denise, it sounds like you are moving along in the right direction. Remember that many of us have to take baby steps but as long as we get there, that is what counts. Keep it up.

Betty, you do look different but glad you are still with us.
to any Newbies that I missed. Come often and join in the chat. This thing works!! Please sign your post with what you want to be called. It makes it easier for us to respond to you. Also a location is great, be it specific or general. We are happy to have you join us.

I think the rain has finally stopped. We should get near 60 today and the sun is shining. Woo Hoo I have a charity event at the Moose on Sunday and have to take a dessert. Yuck. I may make oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries cinnamon chips. That is a bit dangerous because they are my absolute favorites!!! But then I’m thinking of just buying the ingredients and making a Dump Cake because it is soooo easy. Then Monday I have to take a snack to the meeting and may make a Spinach Feta pie because I’d gladly bring home leftovers from that. Every day I’m making a few more preparations for the cruise. Some of my panties have just gotten too big so might need to buy a few pair before I go. 7 days but who’s counting?
I hope all of you have a healthy and happy day.

Words I live by:
Savor. I have to slow down and savor every bite.
and
Opportunity. Each day offers new opportunities for good health and happiness if we just look for them and choose them.
I Love you,
DJ
Myrtle Beach, SC

Katla49

Kim: I can't speak for Heather, but my corn flour is ground by Bob's Red Mill from organic corn and I use it to make muffins and things. Cornstarch is another matter.

jalapenotech: You join this group by posting. You're in! Come by often and let us get to know you. :flowerforyou:

Heather: Good news about the phone. I hope you're happy with it. Sorry your brother's health seems to be problematic. My DH has been an insulin dependent diabetic for 50 years. He has other health issues, but his diabetes is well controlled with insulin and his own good management. I hope your brother will be able to manage his well, too. I hope your own health improves. You seem to have a horrid virus & I hope it goes away soon. :flowerforyou:

Alison: Does Tom take medication that causes blood thinning? He may need a lower dose. Aspirin can cause that, but so can a lot of things. (((hugs)))

Chris: Sending prayers your way. :flowerforyou:

Kimses: Exercise is good, AND it can also be enjoyable. I hope you find things that you enjoy doing. Enjoyment is a definite asset.

Carol: Poor kitty, God rest its soul.

Lily: Be careful on the slick roads. :flowerforyou:

Sylvia: (((HUGS))) You are not a selfish b*tch. You are one of the most generous people I've known.

Terri: We had a mountain lioness with a cub visiting our town a few years ago. She was captured and relocated. We've also had a pack of coyotes in our town and one actually took a woman's dog off of its leash while she was walking. The community was told to carry big sticks while walking their dogs but decided to deal with things more aggressively. The coyote pack evidently got "lead poisoning." They aren't still bothering people. A young bear also found its way into an elementary school playground in Tualatin while I was still teaching in that school district. It was quite thrilling for the kids, to say the least. It was captured and taken to the mountains near the coast and then released. We're encroaching on the wild animal's space, so they sometimes take up residence in ours. :ohwell:


Yoga today! YAY!!! We have three different teachers and this is one of the two I really enjoy most. The third teaches yoga, but it isn't really her interest. She's much more interested in body sculpting. The music they each play during class tells a tale about personalities. The body sculptor played instrumental Christian music on Monday, the young man plays Ravi Shankar on Wednesdays, and today's teacher plays ocean waves with instrumental music in the background. Today's teacher is about our age. The other two are in their early thirties. I enjoy the variety.

Katla in Beautiful NW Oregon

“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” Thomas A. Edison

January Goals :
1. Log every bite and swallow.
2. Cardio exercise at least 3 days a week. Work on flexibility and back strength.
3. Have fun every day.
4. Drink at least three glasses of water daily, preferably more!
5. Eliminate alcohol.
6. Monitor sleep. Try to average 7 or more hours of sleep nightly.

grandmallie

No coumidin or blood thinners.in good shape... He has to make the appointment, I told him I'm not nagging or being a haunt,but this is NOT normal

jmkmomm

.

drkatiebug

Sylvia, laughing at you showering with thickening shampoo. Maybe if you shower with Dawn dish detergent next time it will reverse the effects. It's supposed to dissolve fat.

Carol, you win the prize for the weirdest story ever.

csofled

mtowne002

Dr Katiebug. Thanks for the good chuckle! I'll have to pick up some Dawn right away!

Terri. Great effort with the increasing steps goal. I did a similar thing but only set the goal for days that I work as I easily get 7000 those days but my off days I'm a slouch and need to work on that. Something you can do is put the wristband on your ankle I had to use a twisty tie bc my ankle is just a little to big when you stationary bike and it counts one revolution as one step!

Universe. My girl is Winnie too! But she is a corpulent 125 lb chunk. She has joined me dieting and moving more for three weeks now and I am thinking of taking her over to the vets for a reweigh. She should only weigh 80. She is fed what my other dog gets but hunts at every opportunity in the kitchen or kids rooms for anything she can devour. Even a bag of strong cough drops is not safe.

The lamb last night was UNREAL. It fell apart to the fork and was super yummy. I went over my calories last night bc I have a second helping but was SO worth it!
Yay! My daughter just came out of her room and wants to walk the pigs so ta ta for now.

Chris. Sending prayers, positive vibes too.

Boston Mindy

miakoda40

Carol - How sad about the kitty. Rather funny at the same time. They could have just left a note asking for prayers. They didn't have to leave the body. I've said a little prayer for the kitty's soul.

I've got a bad case of the blues. I just want to crawl into bed and cry. Nothing specific going on so I'm guessing it's just SAD rearing its ugly head.

Mia in MI

Peach1948

Allison ~ I bleed profusely with the slightest scratch and if I hit anything end up with the under-the-skin bleeding. I don't take any medication that would cause this. Just think I have very thin sun damaged skin.

I found Richard Simmons on Youtube and am trying his Dancing to the Golden Oldies. I'm so out of shape that I could only follow along for a short time but will keep trying to do a bit more each day. The only problem with these is that you can tell that they were old and don't come through clearly without skipping.

Carol

lhannon062709

NCCarol - I keep hearing "Holy cats, Batman!" in my head. I'm probably going to H-E-double toothpicks. On a handcart and in a handbasket.

Sylvia - you're not selfish, you and your time deserve more respect than that.

Mia in MI - Come visit me in Texas, girl - 72 degrees and sunny today!

Kimses - hope the interview went well.

Allie - Hope you get Tom to the doc.

Been reading everyone's posts - but picked up some freelance writing for blogs (blogmutt.com, if anyone's interested) and really enjoying it. Writing more than 1200 words a day makes it hard to want to write anywhere else!

Lisa in West Texas

We did get four inches of snow the other day, all gone now... Here's the DH and Daisy the Dog playing in it.

oceanmelody

miakoda40 wrote: »

Carol - How sad about the kitty. Rather funny at the same time. They could have just left a note asking for prayers. They didn't have to leave the body. I've said a little prayer for the kitty's soul.

I've got a bad case of the blues. I just want to crawl into bed and cry. Nothing specific going on so I'm guessing it's just SAD rearing its ugly head.

Mia in MI

Mia, hang in there and don't let the blues keep you down! Hugs!
Betty

bwcetc

CarolNC .... Never a dull moment ...

Alison ... Excessive bleeding and bruising is not normal.

Sylvia ... You know better than to believe you're selfish ... Knock off the negative talk and remember just how generous you are to your son, your family and your community!

Joyce ... What's up???

I'm back to eating right, cough won't let me exercise yet.

Beth near Buffalo

fanncy0626

Stronglifts Workout

Squats-1X5X 65/75/85/95/105, 5X5X 115
Sumo squats-5X5X105
0HP-2X5X 45, 1X5X 50, 5X5X 55
DL-1X5X 140



Mary from Minnesota

mollywhippet

Dr Katie - FUNNY! I have Dawn at home and didn't even think about it!

mollywhippet

My son has a little red collapsible shopping basket that has recently bit the dust. I tried fixing it but it was just a bandaid repair. I had been looking at those shopping baskets online, including one at Amazon that looked very good. It was heavy duty and could hold 150 pounds, which is a lot of oxygen bottles. But, it was $79, so I didn't order one. Then Monday I got an e-mail from Amazon saying that item's price was currently $32! And it had free shipping. So, my little fingers found the one-click ordering button. Well, today (Friday) it arrived. I thought that was very quick. I went home and got the box off the porch and spent a few minutes putting it together (the instructions were hilarious). Then dropped it off at their place. I'm really happy with it. It's much sturdier and bigger, too. It's hard for him to carry groceries and things up to his apartment, so a rolling cart is a necessity.

Tonight the kids are coming over after school and staying for dinner. It's such a beautiful day, they can ride their bikes and play outside. So, I'm going to the store before picking them up.

Have a great afternoon!

Sylvia

mollywhippet

Oh, and has anybody ever used a ceramic yarn bowl? I've seen them but never used one, and never successfully made one either. I'm just wondering if you have one, do you like it? Do you use it? What features do you find useful?

Thanks.

CSSJ09

Dear All,
I have been following along for the last few days since the last time I tried to post (very long with lots of replies) the whole thing got wiped out. Anyway, please know that I wish I could answer each individually but I am not sure I can keep up. What an active group.

Carol- I can't even imagine the shock of finding a cat wrapped up on the doorstep. The note's handwriting looks like it was written by a child. I may be a hopeless softie but, I think that this was a very loved furry sibling and that the child wants a blessing for it as for any other family member. Many of us have lost pet family members and we know just how hard it is on us ( Allie-my thoughts are of you and Woody) and for children, this may be their first experience with death.
Kimses Good luck on the interviews. I am sure your experience more than makes up for any temporary enthusiasm that a younger person may have.
DJ- I am really impressed by all the little moving flowers, faces and animals.
Mindy- I laughed about the undies. Do talk to your lender. I think that you might be surprised at the numbers of solutions that the mortgage company may have.
Katla- I am so jealous about the riding. I haven't ridden much in the last few years because I felt that I was too fat. In addition to the wonderful things that horses do for my disposition, the exercise is great. I can finally fit ( who am I kidding- squeeze ) into my winter riding tights. Stretch fabric is a wonderful invention. So signing up for riding at one of the local stables (with indoor ring) is on the list for the next week. I would love to take a riding vacation in Ireland or England. I have a lot of practicing to do and weight to lose before I can even think of that.

Substitutes for spinach and cheese In the Balkans, the filo dough is really just a plain, no fat container for the goodies inside. Note that American commercial puff pastry such as Pepperidge Farm has butter or oil in it. You really do need to get the real filo dough. Instead of spinach, you can use any vegetable that tastes good wilted. Chard, turnip greens, scallions and beet tops come to mind. In Europe we buy plain spinach pies without cheese in the frozen food section of the grocery store. I imagine that you can find frozen pies in any international food store that has Greek, Eastern European, or Turkish food. Instead of making large flat pans of vegetable and cheese pastry, you can cut up the dough and make little baskets for any kind of vegetable and sautéed onion mix taking care to wilt or steam the vegetable before mixing. Crushed walnuts added to the vegetable and onion mix add a bit of texture to the filling. You also can layer the veggie and onion mix on top of several sheets, roll the entire thing up and cut into pieces before baking. I did this with the last of my garden's Brussels sprouts and the leaves from the stalks just the other day. Use olive oil instead of butter to coat the dough for added flavor, fewer calories and fat. If you do not want to use Greek feta cheese, you can use Bulgarian Sirene (brined goat or sheep cheese), or kashkaval, a hard sheep or cow cheese. It is also made in Turkey (Kaşar). Be sure to get the kinds made with vegetable rennet. American alternatives to these cheeses include Farmer's or cottage cheese. If you do use a brined cheese, do not add salt to the vegetable mixture.

I love the animal pictures. I took Bullwinkle's hint last night and decided that it was time for bed.

CJ