PBMT Day 16

Where does the time go??? Work is getting in the way of my getting to visit David. I'm going to be at the hospital again tomorrow though and will find him awake some time during the day - I'm sure! This card is another one from my "stash" of not-too-girly cards. The inside says "anything is possible, the power is already inside you". That seems fitting for someone who has been "re-birthday'd" (i.e. new bone marrow).

This is a short week at work but you know how that goes! I'm falling behind here! I should tell you about last night though - because that was really special. A family from my church organized a group of us to provide, prepare, and serve dinner to 90 men living at a shelter. I've been there before - 4 years ago - and remembered how grateful the men were. Nothing has changed. It is humbling to give to people who have less than you, and realize that in many ways they actually have more. Certainly more strength, more courage, more willingness to work. Definitely a sense of team - in this boat together and willing to take turns and eager to help. They nearly fell over each other for the honor of saying the blessing before the meal. They looked you in the eyes and said "thank you" for every small gesture. I came away much richer than I was when I arrived.

Hope your week is good!

Open Stamping Sunday!

Before I babble about Open Stamping - let me just say that this card is "copied" from the Close to My Heart Spring Catalog. It's one of those cards that turned out SO pretty that I just wanted to hoard it forever and ever. But, I put it in the mail yesterday to someone I dearly love . . .as a belated Happy Birthday card.

We had so much fun today! The group really got into the shaving cream technique and their creations were all unique and all beautiful! Everyone was teasing that we would be yelling to each other "H-a-a-a-Y!" from now on - after Keri and Sheri entertained us with stories of their goats and how the very social Fiona yells for her "herd" to come out of the house and join in her fun. "H-a-a-a-Y!"

We also entertained ourselves with a visit to Anna Wight's blog - to see video clips of Tiny Tim. This chicken (well, Rooster) is hilarious! Anna is a great photographer, and a stamper, too - so if you haven't seen her blog you really owe it to yourself to visit her.

I don't think anyone got a lot of scrapping done today - but we did have a good time!

Each month we spend a few minutes before our Open Stamping and Scrapbooking afternoon working on a new technique. This month I'm teaching Shaving Cream technique - it's a o-l-d one but still a lot of fun and a "wowie" for people who haven't seen it already. The instructions are on this technique page that everyone will make and add to their technique books. You can choose whatever colors you like. I've seen everything from elegant to funky.

It was indeed a busy day - but not as stressful as I had feared. I'm hanging in there. It helps that my new glasses prescription seems to finally be right. I've done a lot of laundry, housework, the committments I mentioned earlier, and even worked in a short nap today. Surely can't complain about that!!!

At the Memorial for my friend's Mom, the Pastor spoke about LIFE and Transitions. I admit that it made me think a little differently about the meaning of life, the being of life, and how life may not actually STOP when the body dies. His comments were actually quite profound. Strangely, after the service I was talking with a friend of the family (unknown to me before today) and she mentioned a 20/20 story about a child that doesn't age. She thought it was very positive and exciting that the child doesn't age. This girl is in her teens (the exact number of years escapes me) and is still the size of an infant. It gave me the same sadness that I experienced watching the movie "Benjamin Button" about a man who lived his life backwards (basically). Born old, died young. Staying young your whole life seems tragic to me just like living backwards seemed tragic. The point is that both of these individuals (one fictional, one real) are out-of-step with the world; and that's a hard place to be.

Ok. Well then. I'm sorry - what a ramble!
I hope your Saturday was not as deeply philosophical as mine turned out to be.

PBMT Day 12

I worked at the hospital this afternoon and slipped upstairs to visit David between meetings. He was asleep - so I left the card on his isolation cart. The next nurse that goes into his room will take it in to him. I'm glad he's finally able to nap - he hasn't gotten much sleep and mentioned that he is fatigued.

Glorious, wonderful Friday at last! It was another l-o-n-g day at work, and I had a late meeting that kept me from my beloved Yoga class, but I can practice in the craft room (I just push the table to one side and lock the cats out of the room!). I need to stretch out - we're threatened by THUNDERSTORMS and my "achy" parts are telling me all about it! I've got a busy weekend (which is both good and bad). I tend to over-book myself; I guard my time very carefully but sometimes you just can't help it. I will be attending a memorial service mid-day (that one prempted my hair appointment). At church Sunday morning I'm launching the Back-to-School project that our Outreach Committee does each year. I'll be there from about 8:30 - Noon. Then rush back to the house for Open Stamping with my friends. I'll have to go back to work on Monday just to get some rest!

About the card? This one was a "card-in-a-bag" swap and it was designed by a CTMH "sister" Chantelle Husband. What we do with this kind of swap is we make one card as the example, and prep for the other cards. When the group gets together, we set up card stations and actually make the card for ourselves with the kits that the other consultant made. I love this kind of swap because we get to stamp together, and I usually learn a new trick from the others.

Well - I'll post over the weekend if at all possible! Take care!

PBMT Day 10

I visited with David this morning - he is 2 days post bone marrow transplant. His color looks better today - and he is still in amazing spirits! There was a HUGE Happy Birthday balloon in his room. This surprised me because I happen to know exactly when David's birthday is - it's the same day as mine, Dec. 26th! He explained that when they transplanted his bone marrow back - he was re-born. So, it's really a Happy Re-Birthday balloon. Isn't that interesting?This card uses another "Solo" letter. What I did with this one was stamp the "T" onto a piece of thin chipboard, then I cut that out. I glued the design paper over the "T" and cut it out again. It is pop-dotted up on the card. The "rees" was stamped onto natural fiber twill ribbon using the alphabet called Precious and Olive ink. I think the rest is self-explanatory.

It was a good day! I finally got the new lenses for my glasses (the prescription was wrong) and they seem much better. I'm hopeful! Hope you had a great beginning of your week and that you enjoy Thursday and Friday!

PBMT Day 9

Well, after sleeping almost 12 hours last night - and getting up "Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed" as my dear Mom used to always say (much to my annoyance!) - I had a difficult day after all. Bummer. My own fault - and Yoga helped me to re-balance tonight and I'll be fine tomorrow.

This was David's card for today. I've not posted a couple because they were posted on my blog already (why show them again?!). This one was from last summer (I think) so it's new to you. The "solos" are BIG letters. I love them - they come with words to match and little doo-dads (such as flowers, shapes, birds) The "Solo" punctuations are perfect for scrapbooking with a huge EXCLAMATION POINT ! and parenthesis and all that jazz.

I can't stay long - it's late on Yoga night. I get home at approx. 8:15 then by the time I have something for dinner, it's past bed-time already. So - I wish you a wonderful Wednesday and I'll talk to you later! {{{ Hugs!}}}

Nana Card!

This tin is from Trader Joe's and it used to hold dark chocolate! That doesn't last long around me though! I saved it to make a "round card" for my friend Pam who is a new Nana! Inside is a 10 page "card" with 10 reasons Pam will be a wonderful Nana. I can finally post it as I gave it to her yesterday.

Mondays. They are what they are, huh. I came home so tired - I thought a bite of dinner would revive me, but it hasn't. I think I'll hit the hay early tonight. "See" you later this week!

Sunglasses alert!

You'll need your sunglasses to look at this post of my weekly planner page! It's BRIGHT! My planner is FULL. I'm only 1/2 way through the year but the added layers of paper, ribbons, embellishments, etc. have just expanded the book SO much! I think I'll un-do the spiral and move the second half to a new binding at the end of this month. All I need is to add a new cover page and a new back sheet.

The journaling tells the story - Chloe is good for hauling things! The paper was retired Close to My Heart background & texture paper. The ribbon I found at least a year ago and put away for a "Chloe" page.

I spent most of the morning with David. He was receiving chemo and I was just keeping him company. He has done so well with this - I'm very proud of him! The card for today was one I've already posted on my blog. There are no "fathers" in my life - my Dad and my Step-Dad are both gone - so other than remembering them today, there were no big BBQ's or sports activities. I did some quiet scrapbooking with one of my friends. I hope you enjoyed Father's day with the important men in your lives.

PBMT Day 6

Saturday has been so busy with errands and cleaning chores, grocery shopping and phone calls - the time has slipped away without my getting up to the hospital today. I'm planning now to attend evening services tonight and go see David in the morning. This was the card I planned for today (will deliver tomorrow instead). It's another one from my basket . . . it feels good to let these go now. They have been fiercely hoarded - without any hope of bringing a smile to someone else. It's time I set them free (like butterflies). I hope your Saturday has been productive - and perhaps fun also?!

Close to My Heart stamp sets Sweet Flowers and Memories. Inks: New England Ivy, Hollyhock, Goldrush, Buttercup, Cocoa. Paper colors Vanilla Cream, N.E. Ivy, and Cocoa. Vineyard Berry gingham ribbon (retired).

This is my semi-annual "invite" to Open Stamping! I make these for my friends to have as "refrigerator art" or where-ever they post things they want to remember. It gives the next six dates for our get-togethers and usually the 2nd half of the year has exceptions for when we'll meet that isn't the day after Christmas (and such as that!). This year everything looks (for now) like it will be pretty straight forward. If you're in the neighborhood - I'd love to have you join us! Give me a call so I know how many to plan for with the technique page. ;-)

PBMT Day 5

This is the card I sent for Day 5. I will go visit David tomorrow . . .

I actually taught this as a technique first and made it into a card later! We were learning how to do emerging color. It's very fun! In a nutshell, you stamp some images on white daisy cardstock, and you clear emboss some images, randomly crossing over some of the colors you stamped (such as the sentiment in this example). Heat set it, let it cool a moment, then with a sponge, rub color in over the top. Everywhere you used clear embossing it will stay white. The stamped parts show through and the colors you add on top can be quite a variety of looks.

Close to my Heart: Treasure Life stamp set; Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf and Chocolate inks and cardstock. Clear embossing powder.

Don't tell anyone, I wouldn't want it to get out (!) but we've been having the strangest weather this summer!!! June has been beautiful! Today the high was 9 degrees below the average for this day. It was only 95. You may be laughing when I say "only 95" but let me tell you, in the desert, 95 is very comfortable. 105 is pretty hot and 115 is awful. I lived through 122 here - and that was downright intolerable. My heart goes out to the people who have to wear uniforms (like police or fire-fighters) with heavy equipment, belts, protective vests and such - I can just imagine how they have to wring their clothes out when they take them off! Ok, with that image in my head - I'm going to play in the craft room where it's a perfect 75 degrees!

Be the Match

This week I signed up to be a possible bone marrow donor. You can too!
There is a drive going on to register donors. If you sign up they will send you a packet of information and four Q-tip type swabs to rub your gums with - they use the cells collected on these swabs to perform HLA tests to see what your "type" is. It doesn't cost anything to check it out, and if you do become "THE MATCH" for someone, it might mean that you would save their life. Literally.

Visit: www.bethematch.org between June 8 - 22
The promotion codes I have are: hope1 and hope2 (no spaces)
Questions? Call Aubrie at 602-277-1390 or Oscar 602-277-1002

David and I thank you.

PBMT Day 4

I spent the afternoon at the hospital today so I did get to see David. He's so brave and positive. Absolutely inspiring! This was the card for today - and I learned that he has been getting the cards I've sent via interoffice mail. :-)

Close to My Heart stamp sets Treasure Life (I've used this set so much it's a lovely amber color now!) and Airmail with Bamboo, Chocolate, Desert Sand and Crystal Blue colors.

One of the things I do often at work is attend meetings. Many of the meetings are teleconferenced, but quite a few are also video-conferenced. This morning I had an important 7 AM video-conference meeting that didn't ever get off the ground - we had no audio signal on our end. The media services staff worked on it for about 20 minutes before we gave up. It was pretty funny - our group trying to send messages to the other side. Like playing Charades! I know many in the group were frustrated because it wasted precious time - but I thought it was kind of entertaining myself. (sometimes we take ourselves way too seriously).

Have a wonderful evening!

PBMT Day 3

This stamp set (Sunflower - retired) was one of the few that I own in both wood mounted red rubber and My Acrylix. I have used this stamp over and over and over (and will probably continue to use it - I just simply love it!). Inside there is an inspirational quote and a little personal thought for David.

I'm a bad friend :-(. I didn't get to the hospital today and am feeling blue about that. I WILL go tomorrow, I will, I will! I sure hope my plan of getting his cards to him when I can't visit is working. Guess we'll find out.

It really made my day when I realized that Iona of Iona's Crop Shoppe included ME in this "lovely blog" award! Oh - that's such a nice thing to do!!! Thank you so much!

Work was busy-bee today and once I hit 12 hours I said "enough" and finally came home. I slurped and crunched my way through a 30 minute phone call with my DD. I accused her of just calling so she could listen to me eat - and she doesn't deny it. We are both so weird. Oh! And I got a call from the dentist today. He was blown away by the card. I guess Kathi is right - dentists don't get a lot of thank you cards! It hadn't occurred to me (honest!) but then again, my life has been devoid of dentists for decades many years. Well, Hump Day is nearly over - YIPPEE!

PBMT Day 2

I'm pretty sure this card was cased over a year ago from one that Vicki Wizniuk made (her post was on the Close to My Heart Bulletin Boards). Vicki has tremendous talent! I've linked you to her blog. I've used many different titles for this card - making it anything from "very elegant" to "sassy" which is more the look this one has! The inside comment is about being grateful - which I know that he is (I am, too!). I didn't get to actually see David today - but it was a tough day for him anyway - so he needed rest more than chatter. I'll invent a reason to go to the hospital tomorrow. Oh! Hi Beth! You read my blog?! (Beth's my boss).

Close to My Heart products: Legendary Moments, Treasures of The Heart stamp sets. Colonial White, Twilight papers. Twilight and Chocolate inks.

Anyway - as I was saying . . . busy day at the other campus today and no time to go visiting! After work I went to Yoga. Those who have been reading my blog know already that I LOVE Yoga. It challenges me (I'm not very strong) but it gets me moving and I am so r-e-l-a-x-e-d afterwards! MUCH better than drugs!!! I sleep like a rock after Yoga nights. (I used to say I slept like a baby, but then I remembered how they wake up crying and all that jazz). Have a wonderful "Wednesday"!

Project Bone Marrow Transplant! (PBMT) Day 1

If I ever get really sick, I want to be like David. He is the most positive person - brave and cracking jokes with everyone. He knows he's in good hands and he appreciates everything (even a card!). We'll see how he feels at the end of this card adventure - he may run screaming from the hospital to get away from them all! This one was copied right out of the Close to My Heart catalog so I didn't sign the photo. I stamped "Believe in Yourself" on the inside. I probably won't remember all the sentiments long enough to document them - but there was an amazing number that seemed appropriate in one way or another.

The second thing I want to share is a Bella card I made over the weekend. (Love that Bella Paper!) I used liquid glass in the middle of the big sunflower, and the hollyhock color dew-drops in the middle of the hollyhock flowers. This was a 10 minute card - except for the drying time!

I had lunch with my friend Pam today - her new grandson is the cutest "Gerber baby" ever!!! She brought a small brag-book - and just beams with joy while I look and discover this new love in her life! What a blessing!

Dentist Thank You Card and Weekly Planner Page

I've had a lot of fun in the craft room this weekend - I'll try to not post everything at once so there will be some new things to look at later in the week! I'm mailing this card off to Dr. Gardner tomorrow with a photo of the weekly planner page (i.e. scrapbook) for my "historic moment". I think he'll laugh - he's the type.

Close To My Heart products - Game On paper, the letters for DENTIST and the comments were computer generated in Pharmacy font. The card sentiment is from the new Thank You stamp set (love that set - can you ever have too many ways to say thanks?!!) and on the Desert Sand cardstock it looks like leather or somthing. Cool, huh!

Church was good this morning - I learned that a friend / church family member is having a bone marrow transplant at my hospital beginning tomorrow and the seed has germinated into a full blown project. I'm going to shower him with a hand-made card every day he's there (approx. 3 weeks). I've gone through my "stash" for some more manly cards and have about 14 pulled out - so that's a great head start! I know I can convince my nurse friends from his unit to help me on my days off with the delivery of those cards. If you want me to, I'll post them each day (most are old enough that they are from my pre-blog days so you won't have seen them). Let me know in the comments . . . otherwise, I'll stick to new "stuff". ;-)

Have a wonderful evening!

This THANKS is for YOU!

This one's for YOU! Thank you, my dear friends, for posting such sweet and supportive comments - encouraging me to get through the "experience" yesterday! I am so blessed!

I just fell in love with Julia Aston's card here and even though it took me awhile to imitate it, I finally did and am pleased with my card. I'm laughing at myself, too, because once again, I photographed the black card on a black background. Will I ever learn???

The stamp set is Close to My Heart Endless Friendship. The paper is BG - Urban Prairie.

Work was pretty good today! I have had very little pain with the root canal and new crown - my gums are a little sore but all in all, it was easy. I woke up in the middle of the night last night with the realization that my head didn't hurt. :-) So, I am definitely looking forward to playing in the craft room this weekend!!!!! YIPPEE! It will be so much easier to be creative without the headache!

More from the SWAP board!

Jen's card is so cute!! And the envelope is stamped, too (not shown).

Melinda did the Moon Doggie papers and her card is amazing! She used a hinge and added all sorts of wonderful details.

I'm finishing up a birthday card, and adding some pages to Chloe's Scrapbook, and basically trying to keep my mind off of the impending dentist appointment. Thank you all so much for your sweet thoughts - it brings me comfort and will help me calm myself to remember your kind words this afternoon.

Summer 09 Catalog SWAP

Finally! The long awaited board that my unit sisters helped me make with our Summer 2009 Close To My Heart Catalog SWAP. Isn't it wonderful?! I've taken photos of each section - I'll post them, too.
This was "Bella" by my upline, Joanne Zubal. If you click on the photo (it gets huge) then you can see that the center of the flowers are the round window charms. It's a gorgeous card!





This is Back Country by Kris Massey! I've posted other "Kris" work - I love her designs!

I'm going to save the other two for tomorrow - I need to get to bed. Tomorrow afternoon is the "root canal". I don't think I would have believed anyone if they told me I'd be ready for this - but my head hurts so badly, I think I'd do anything to make it stop. I'll post the other two groupings before I go to the dentist because I would bet dollars to donuts that I'll be napping afterwards! Thanks for looking - and thanks for your sweet comments, they mean a LOT to me!

Back to the turtles

I'm waiting for better light to take some photos of the things I made THIS weekend! In the meanwhile, I thought I'd post the "weekly planner" page from the week that I discovered the turtle laying eggs in my yard! This one went together in a flash - mostly because I had the little stand of trees left over from a card swap. When you make volumes of cards, do you ever wind up with leftover pieces? I seem to NEVER make "just the right amount" of elements. Sometimes I cut too many of the "5 1/2 x 3" pieces and the next time I might make too many of the focal point. I never throw the stamped items away; I just put them in a little basket I have on my work table. When I'm working on a scrapbook layout, sometimes I can reach into that little basket and find just the perfect little thing for my page.

The weather was gorgeous here today (in the 90's) - I didn't discover it until dusk when I took the garbage out. I'll try to do yard-work tomorrow after work if the temperatures stay this perfect. Otherwise, it was a pretty normal Sunday here. I did some stamping, laundry, and had a shredding party. While looking for something yesterday in my 4-drawer lateral filing cabinet, I realized that I had old work-related expense reports from the early 1990's! Really!? Who would bother with those 15 - 19 years later? So, I sure hope I was right - because they're gone. Kathi had the idea of a lavender scented bath, I think Kathi is a genius and am going to imitate her (again!). Have a wonderful week - "see" you later!

He's Here!

Logan was born at 6:40 PM by c-section. I got the call about 6:48 - Mom was still in surgery but Dad and baby were off to the nursery. Nana sounded VERY TIRED! No details (weight, height, etc.) but we'll know more soon. Thank you all for your prayers!

Animal Cookie - Take 4

Fun, fun, fun unit meeting today - I am working on putting together the new Summer 2009 catalog swap that we did and it is truly wonderful! I didn't want to keep you waiting - so I'm posting this card now, and will get the whole board up as soon as possible! (I'm just making headers and such).

It was a busy day! I ran errands early, then had a hair appointment (and am all beautiful again) and then the unit meeting. I stopped to do a little shopping on my way home but gave up pretty quickly as the "monster" headache returned. So, the later part of this afternoon hasn't been very productive. I'm going to bed early tonight and planning on a better Sunday afternoon - where all I need to do it laundry and stamping. Sounds perfect, truly!

ps - no word from my friend Pam on the status of her grandbaby. Keep praying!

It's A Boy!

No, As far as I know, he's not here quite yet - but they are inducing Pam's DD today so he may be born on Saturday! I am so exciting, waiting for word from one of my friends that her 1st Grandchild has arrived. This card doesn't actually have ANY stamping on it. The boat was paper pieced from shapes, the sayings were computer generated and the only ink I applied to the paper was to edge and draw in some stitching lines. Oh, and remember that one of my objectives in doing this blog was to improve my photography skills? It's amazing to me what you "see" with the camera that you don't "see" with your eyes! For instance, the card looked perfectly fine on the black background in real life . . .

Yoga tonight was "mellow". Our instructor gently chided us saying that there was "low energy" in the room. No kidding! I think the 6 brave souls that came tonight would have rather spent the entire 90 minutes in the "final resting pose"!!! But, having said that, we actually did many balance poses tonight and I was stronger and steadier than usual. A good practice today.

Tomorrow is the bi-monthly CTMH Unit meeting where we get togther and swap cards, share pot-luck lunch, and share ideas and projects. My unit sisters are very special to me and I look forward to our meetings very much.
I'll try to post tomorrow with some of the inspirations from the day!

Namaste. (which means roughly, "the light within me honors the light within you")

Sympathy

I worked a half-day today (dentist appointment) and came home to nap after the experience. I slept fitfully, and awoke with a vision of chocolate brown and blush in my head. This card is not exactly what I was dreaming of, but it looks good and it is the right colors!

Stamps - Papertrey's "Out On A Limb" and the papers/inks are Close to My Heart "Adorable" and Chocolate / Blush. The ribbon was a steal find at the closing of a local art store. I bought all they had in every color combination. When you touch it, it feels so soft - like butter. There is nothing quite like exquisite ribbon.

So, the dentist? I hate to admit it, but I hadn't been to the dentist in over 10 years. I can't even remember the name of the dentist I last saw. I'm sure that's like the way you don't remember the pain of childbirth - too horrible to keep around in your head. I did a little homework and found someone promising - I have to admit, I like him. He was kind and gentle. He will help me feel better. I think we finally know what is causing my horrible headaches! I'm scheduled for a root canal and crown next week. Somehow just knowing that we will fix it next week gives me strength to keep going.
Wishing you a happy Friday!

Hot Air Balloon!

There is a new stamp set out there (Verve's Up, Up, and Away) that has Hot Air Balloons - I was inspired by one of the artists with this design (sure wish I could remember WHO so I could link you here?!) - and since I didn't have the stamps, I improvised! Interesting discovery - I've "always" used the round sponge cut into a little wedge (like a piece of cheddar from a cheese wheel?) to sponge inks onto my paper. For this card, I grabbed the sponge on a handle tool out of my distressing toolkit. Man-oh-man, I like this tool!!! It gave me more control and was less tiring on my hands. It's a little hard to see, but there is blue in the sky of both image plates. The balloon and basket are pop-dotted up and the ropes were wire in my first incarnation, and became black waxy flax for this card. (my first card the balloon was too small! Yikes!) Someday I'll break down and try Copics - the coloring could have been so much better.

CTMH: Sarsparilla and Game On papers, Heavenly Blue, Olive, Bamboo, and Chocolate inks. LSS ribbon and a button from my button box with hemp.

Before and After

I've seen a few brave artists post "before" and "after" photos of things they've created. I've never done this - and am prepared to be laughed at! Truly - I laughed myself at the first card! It's so off balance it's almost silly looking. The second card isn't much better to be honest - but is "passable". I'll leave it alone now - but I wanted to show you that the creative process requires many a few "do-overs"!

CTMH: Treetops, Airmail, You are Beautiful stamps. Garden Green, Bamboo, and Chocolate inks and cardstock. The flower is Petal and Pansy Purple with the waterbrush.

Work was wonderful today. I am so blessed to work somewhere with nice people, a focus on quality, and time to do my job correctly. I love that I am respected at work, and I love that I can continue to learn and grow. Happy Tuesday!

Inspired by Julia Aston!

I even signed the photo as such - because other than using my Close to My Heart stars, the entire card is a complete rip-off of Julia's!!! I did pretty good, huh?! ;-)

CTMH: Wishing Star, You Make me Happy stamp sets, Cranberry, Moonstruck inks.

Today was good - busy and productive at work, and I made my favorite soup (Refrigerator soup) for dinner and ran a load of laundry! There are no refrigerators in Refrigerator Soup. What goes into the soup is all the vegetables in the refrigerator that are begging to be eaten before they spoil (which when you live alone, is most of them!). I add a little grilled chicken, low-salt broth, tarragon, thyme, coriander, and 2 cloves of crushed garlic. It makes the whole house smell divine, and is very satisfying. It never turns out the same, although usually close, because I don't measure anything - I just clean, chop, pinch and toss. I cool and then freeze the leftovers (usually 3 more meals) and when those are all gone, it's time to make Refrigerator Soup again!

Have a wonderful evening - "see" you again soon!