JoAnn L.
Master Chef
Thanks you guys. He moved there 3 years ago to take a job as a barista and fell in love with Paris. Now he speaks French just like he was born there.
Last thing that made you smile?
- Thread starter luvs
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
Does everyone know that if you go to youtube (i.e. the main page) there are a lot of cute and funny videos there of cats.
Yeah, but it's more fun to share them with friends who will appreciate them.
I'm impressed. I just shared it on Facebook.
Yeah, but I like them prescreened by friends.Does everyone know that if you go to youtube (i.e. the main page) there are a lot of cute and funny videos there of cats.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Thanks CG. I needed a smile just about now. It has been a trying day. 
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
I got to play outside today! 
All I did was prune off a boatload of sucker shoots coming up from a clump of witch hazel trees in the back yard. We have a huge bird feeder on a post that broke at the ground. We ended up bungee cording the post to a couple of tree trunks so that we could still lift the top to fill, but the platform was level so the seeds won't spill when the birds perch. While Himself was unemployed, we fed the birds sporadically while he was on unemployment benefits, then stopped when the well went dry. Now that he is getting his social security benefit I'm wanting to be generous with our bird friends again. Had to clean up a bunch of shoots that made seeing the feeder a bit difficult, not to mention filling it. Now that it's easy to reach, I'll have to wipe the feeder up inside and out (plain water only, just getting dust and bug eggs cleaned out) and then fill it up when it's dry. Can't wait to see them flitting about. Once the ground is soft enough and dry enough, we'll plant a couple of our shepherds' hooks for the goldfinch and hummingbird feeders.
All I did was prune off a boatload of sucker shoots coming up from a clump of witch hazel trees in the back yard. We have a huge bird feeder on a post that broke at the ground. We ended up bungee cording the post to a couple of tree trunks so that we could still lift the top to fill, but the platform was level so the seeds won't spill when the birds perch. While Himself was unemployed, we fed the birds sporadically while he was on unemployment benefits, then stopped when the well went dry. Now that he is getting his social security benefit I'm wanting to be generous with our bird friends again. Had to clean up a bunch of shoots that made seeing the feeder a bit difficult, not to mention filling it. Now that it's easy to reach, I'll have to wipe the feeder up inside and out (plain water only, just getting dust and bug eggs cleaned out) and then fill it up when it's dry. Can't wait to see them flitting about. Once the ground is soft enough and dry enough, we'll plant a couple of our shepherds' hooks for the goldfinch and hummingbird feeders.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
How great is this? A Florida woman is diagnosed with cancer and won't have long to live. She writes her own outstanding obit before she dies. Emily Phillips must have been a great person to have known. I'm sure anyone who had her as a friend was mightily blessed.
A link to the full obit is in the body of this news article: Florida woman's self-written obit popular on social media - newsnet5.com Cleveland
A link to the full obit is in the body of this news article: Florida woman's self-written obit popular on social media - newsnet5.com Cleveland
bakechef
Executive Chef
My mom called me to tell me how much she has been cooking in her new home with all of the stuff I bought her. I was really hoping that buying her that new stuff would spark her interest again. Since she lost dad, she hasn't baked much and barely cooked. I think ending one chapter of her life and starting another is just what she needed.
Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
Sent from my XT1080 using Discuss Cooking mobile app
Looks like you found her reset button, you are a good son!
What PF said. Reset button - great description.
JoAnn L.
Master Chef
Went to a few garage sales this morning (in the rain) and got some Taste of Home magazines for 25 cents.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
Nice deal, JoAnn!
*********************************************
I've had a trifecta of smiles today. First, while enjoying a cup of tea and a book in the sunroom, I got to watch two huge crows duke it out. Methinks they were vying for the affection of a lady crow. The two started it up in a tree while sitting with a third crow, then slugged it out with their wings, finally landing on the ground and flailing away as they rolled about 5-10 feet down the backyard slope. Finally one flew off alone, the other flew off with the bird who stayed in the tree.
Next smile? Himself finishing off the taxes and sending them on. We get unexpected money back this year.
Is it because we got financial assistance for my health insurance since we paid out more in premiums that we showed as earnings? Nope. 
It was because Himself, by virtue of being older, got credit back on both our real estate taxes and water/sewer bills. Not too shabby!
Lastly, it was Himself's "wonderful" comment to the salads I made tonight. He's not one to fling around compliments, much to my sadness and dismay.
*********************************************
I've had a trifecta of smiles today. First, while enjoying a cup of tea and a book in the sunroom, I got to watch two huge crows duke it out. Methinks they were vying for the affection of a lady crow. The two started it up in a tree while sitting with a third crow, then slugged it out with their wings, finally landing on the ground and flailing away as they rolled about 5-10 feet down the backyard slope. Finally one flew off alone, the other flew off with the bird who stayed in the tree.
Next smile? Himself finishing off the taxes and sending them on. We get unexpected money back this year.
Is it because we got financial assistance for my health insurance since we paid out more in premiums that we showed as earnings? Nope. It was because Himself, by virtue of being older, got credit back on both our real estate taxes and water/sewer bills. Not too shabby!Lastly, it was Himself's "wonderful" comment to the salads I made tonight. He's not one to fling around compliments, much to my sadness and dismay.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Nice deal, JoAnn!
*********************************************
I've had a trifecta of smiles today. First, while enjoying a cup of tea and a book in the sunroom, I got to watch two huge crows duke it out. Methinks they were vying for the affection of a lady crow. The two started it up in a tree while sitting with a third crow, then slugged it out with their wings, finally landing on the ground and flailing away as they rolled about 5-10 feet down the backyard slope. Finally one flew off alone, the other flew off with the bird who stayed in the tree.
Next smile? Himself finishing off the taxes and sending them on. We get unexpected money back this year.
Lastly, it was Himself's "wonderful" comment to the salads I made tonight. He's not one to fling around compliments, much to my sadness and dismay.
There are so many deductions for being 65 and over. And if you find yourself unable to perform certain tasks and need special equipment you are now handicapped. Another deduction. I love being old, handicapped, and the recipient of so many services.
Cooking Goddess
Chef Extraordinaire
Not that we enjoy paying taxes, Addie, but I'd rather do that than be disabled. Except for the two years that Himself got unemployment benefits (after 38 years of employment), we've always taken care of our needs on our own. Not that I mind tax credits and rebates, but it was a nice surprise after paying real estate taxes for 37 years.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
When you reach 65 you have all kinds of benefits available to you that will reduce you tax bill and get you a cash refund when you file. You don't have to be disabled to enjoy them. Just being 65 gives you an extra exemption. For each of you. That is a big chunk of money saved just there.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
All my adult live I never qualified for anything. And when the kids came, our income was still too much to get a refund. By the time the fifth child came along, three of the kids were out on their own. So there went three deductions. We still had to pay taxes. By the time Poo went off to medical school, he was taking out student loans based on my income alone. Can't claim him, he is not living at home anymore. But now I have my granddaughter and I am her sole support. Because I was not her parent, I could qualify for welfare payments with food stamps for her and myself even though I was working. I didn't want to go that route, even though it would have made it so much easier. By this time I had been alone for more than ten years. So it was my income alone.
I had quite a fight on my hands with IRS when I tried to claim her on my tax return. I had to get a letter from the courts stating that they had turned her over to me to raise. Along with her mother's death certificate. Fortunately, the local IRS office was just a train ride on the T from where I lived. I was in their offices in twenty minutes. The agent tried to tell me that the death certificate was a forgery. By then I fell completely apart and broke down into some of the hardest sobs you ever heard. Someone called a nurse and by the time she got me calmed down, the office was in an uproar and they assigned a different agent to me. All he asked for was my daughter's birth certificate and my granddaughter's. I walked across the plaza and got both of them. The agent was surprised to see me back so quickly. He thought I was going to have to go to the McCormack Bldg. He approved my tax return and even took the receipt for the three certificates I had provided and allowed me to deduct the cost of them. That increased my refund by $25. That office didn't forget me too quickly.
I had quite a fight on my hands with IRS when I tried to claim her on my tax return. I had to get a letter from the courts stating that they had turned her over to me to raise. Along with her mother's death certificate. Fortunately, the local IRS office was just a train ride on the T from where I lived. I was in their offices in twenty minutes. The agent tried to tell me that the death certificate was a forgery. By then I fell completely apart and broke down into some of the hardest sobs you ever heard. Someone called a nurse and by the time she got me calmed down, the office was in an uproar and they assigned a different agent to me. All he asked for was my daughter's birth certificate and my granddaughter's. I walked across the plaza and got both of them. The agent was surprised to see me back so quickly. He thought I was going to have to go to the McCormack Bldg. He approved my tax return and even took the receipt for the three certificates I had provided and allowed me to deduct the cost of them. That increased my refund by $25. That office didn't forget me too quickly.
JoAnn L.
Master Chef
We have a new bakery in town and they have the biggest and most delicious blueberry muffin I have ever had. 
JoAnn L.
Master Chef
Yeah! Our farmers market is opening up today for the season.
