On a roll until we had no AC!

 Success!  If you were reading my blog, do you remember my new list of 7 areas (these are all in plain sight) to clean up/purge/ put things back in their homes?  All of our set backs were making me depressed, so I dove full speed ahead into my list.

I have now checked off 4 of those 7 areas, and it has been heaven to wake up and start my day.   I would otherwise get side tracked, or be outside.  Anyway, my kitchen is back to neat and clean, and tidy.  I filled the truck with more donations (can't believe I found more stuff).

I even washed the tablecloth!

I have gifted these a few times, and they were well received.  They are sturdy, and hold notepads, you can buy at Wal-mart or the Dollar Tree.  I glue a magnet to a pen, so the pen stays on the fridge too.  I will not glue magnets to the pens until I gift these (so the pen does not dry out).  You can get the full instructions:  HERE (on my S.C.R.A.P. Blogspot).

In the process to clean off the kitchen table, and my computer desk area, I had craft projects that needed to be finished, and put in craft show totes (or boxed up for gifting).

I finished that pair of crochet wired beaded earrings.  I finished a pair of crocheted candy corn earrings, I finished the wedding penny (and created packaging for it), and I finally got the magnets glued to the backs of the small clip boards (for fridge shopping notepads for gifting).

My Word on my computer stopped working, so I used an Avery template with 2 x 2 stickers I had on hand, and put them on cut pieces of card stock for the packaging.  I also had the resealable bags and safety pins.   It felt great to get all of this done and put away.  I was temped to make a few more of the wedding penny crocheted flowers, but put those supplies away until the list of "7" areas are done.  

By the way, the penny flower can be given with other poems about a "lucky" penny.  It doesn't have to be a "wedding" penny.  That is just what I needed it for.  Pattern is free on YouTube.

My husband intentionally took the weekend off but, he needed to mow.   Today, all I wanted him to do, was install the upstairs AC.  Instead, he insisted we remove the main window unit downstairs, hose it down (literally, and have no idea why), and put it back in.  However, the unit will not work, as he got something wet he shouldn't have.  He's tried to dry it out, and what not, but to no avail, we are roasting in this house.  

I won't be working so hard today, and maybe not tomorrow.  I may be opening windows and buying some fans.  We don't really have the cash to buy a new unit after the $4400.00 we spent to repair the truck.  Lord have Mercy on us, more so my husband, because I'm not a happy wifey right now.

Toodles, and Happy Sunday!

This and That

 

We have been getting rain, so I'm not doing any garden work currently.  I weeded out the larger weeds in the rose bed, but the rest will have to wait until the the rain stops.

I have been successful with my new to-do list (the 7 areas to tidy up).  I have now crossed 2 off of my list of 7.  My husband hasn't noticed.

Speaking of my husband, there is no sign of the long work hours ending.  He promised me a "date" night, which was taking the motorcycle out and dinner out.  Didn't happen.  They held him over at work.  We are all tired of it.  He has been forced over every night.  One night he was to be home by 8pm, and ended up home at 9pm.

I'm considering going back to work.  We never see each other, and there is no sign we will be getting our projects finished.

I still have a list for us when these hours stop, but I not able to vision any of it being accomplished.  I'm still upset half of the garden was not planted.  Nothing we can do about it.  I probably sound like a broken record.  It can be very depressing at times.  

July is almost here, and the coop materials have not even been bought yet.  We still need more supplies for the raised beds.  The solar fence is still in the box.  I never got my potatoes planted....

I'm getting burned out crocheting.  I have been using up some yarn, and making hats for winter.  I went on Etsy, and was shocked that some people are selling hats for $50-70!!!  What??  And here I was worried that $18 or so was too high.  As for that, my husband said he does NOT want me to do any craft show this winter.

I also saw knitted dishcloths being sold for $7.00!!  What??  I've also noticed that everyone is selling something, and no one is buying.  I read that the area garage sales were a flop as well.  They said "no one was into it" this year.  Well, no one has the money.

I'll be back when I have something more positive to post.  I have just been drained of all positive mojo so far this summer, and feeling like we haven't accomplished anything is mentally draining.

This isn't "throwing in the towel" on homesteading, but the thought is there.

Garden(s) ~ Getting though the days. . .

 I'm cleaning up my blog, and making a few changes.  It was time to lighten the look and make things more simple.  I got rid of the side bars and that bold flower background.  I hope it is a bit more pleasing to the eyes.

The vegetable garden weeding continues, but it's not as bad as the previous years.  The squash plants are looking great, and the cucumbers are too.  I did notice that our National Pickling Cucumbers are much larger plants than our Marketmore 76 plants.  The green beans are looking good, other than a few were trampled early in the season.  No, the fence is not up yet.

I've been pretty successful with rotating the vegetable garden weeding and up keep, with the flower beds. 

I started on the rose bed finally, and boy it is a mess.  We have tried everything but roof shingles to keep the weeds out.  I may get my husband to try that this year after all these trials. 

 We have tried everything from mulch, to black plastic, to weed sheeting to piles and piles of cardboard.  Nothing has worked.  It's the flower bed from h-e-double hockey sticks.  Anyway, my garden sleeves worked great for this garden (so far).

I can't even begin to tell you how drained I am, but seeing so many projects unfinished around here.  It can be so depressing.  I decided to write out a list of rooms that are driving me nuts, and only the areas that I can clean up myself without my husband's help (trust me, there are way more of those projects).

I already checked off one area on my new list.  The new list has 7 areas.  The plan is to focus on this new list each day, and not stress over other things.  When these 7 are checked off, I will re-access, and write a new list if necessary.

Here's what I got done in the way of the list . . .

-put two folding chairs that were in the hall, back upstairs

-brought down a box of trash left by one of the girls, and tossed it all out.

-washed bedding that one daughter borrowed here, dried it on the line and put it back in storage.

-loaded two boxes of items into the truck to donate.

-cleared off the kitchen island, wiped it down and wiped down the chairs.

I can't say I will be that productive every day, but it's a good start.  

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

The weekend went fast.  Thursday night tornados hit northeast of us.  One daughter's family and several friends were in it's path.  All are okay, but there was a lot of damage done.

I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay a Home Mom.

The weather . . .

Mostly 80's for high's this week, with possible rain this weekend.

As I look outside my window . . .

It's cloudy.

Right now I am . . .

Drinking coffee.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Canning this season.  It's been on my mind.  What is the most favorite condiment you like to can for gifting?   Not sure it'll happen, but thinking about it.

Did I mention our handy-man quit on us?  He won't even come tend the hens anymore either.  We even have unfinished work from him, and have no idea what's going on.   I have chicken people to contact, but we may be doing everything else, from here on out, ourselves now.  It means it could take longer with my husband working so many hours.

I have a lot of unfinished crochet/knit projects right now.  I'm considering frogging them all and storing the yarn for now.    I do need to finish a few, but some were for craft shows, and that is just now on the homefront right now.  Maybe not even for a few years.  Anyway...those unfinished projects are in the boxes I need to move.

A chaotic home is a chaotic mind (for me anyway), so my focus is to really tidy up/purge etc so we can wake up to a happy home (happy mind).

Listening to . . .

The birds outside.

How I am feeling . . .

Somewhat better, but my throat is still scratchy dry.  The stress of my husband's work hours can really weigh a person down.  Garden work is full swing this week.  The rain brought weeds.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Not sure just yet.

On the lunch plate . . .

Leftovers.

On the dinner plate . . .

Not sure yet.

On my reading pile . . .

On my TV this week . . .

Nothing special.

On the menu . . .

-possibly chicken sandwiches
-turkey roast, veggies
-leftovers

Looking around the house . . .

The living room is a hot mess.  There is so much that needs to go upstairs yet, but I've put it off until the gym flooring is installed.  I'm thinking I'll move it up there anyway.  It could be a while for flooring.

To-do list . . .

An all week list, in no particular order:

-laundry
-check garden/till/tie tomatoes, weather permitting
-wash down west wall kitchen cupboards
-wipe kitchen windowsills
-clean East window blind
-sweep/mop floors (still haven't found a vacuum I like)

-pay bills

-order propane

-tidy up computer/desk area

-grocery shop

-purge remaining craft supplies/move the rest upstairs

One Extreme Clean Pick for the Week:  Clean inside cupboards under kitchen sink.  This job may flow into next week, depending on how much time I need to spend in the garden(s).

From the camera . . .

Devotional, verse, thoughts . . .

Prayers for those who lost their homes/were hurt due to the recent tornadoes.

Purge Motivation ~ Camping Tip I Learned

 A few of you have mentioned that purging/organizing/tossing seems a bit overwhelming.  Well, this is how I do it.

I put the boxes of "stuff" in the smack dab middle of the living room.  It's in plain sight, and that will bother me, so it's tackled and taken care of and more out of the house faster.  More put in their new homes, or re-organized.  I am cleaning as if I was moving, so I handle each item asking myself, "would I take you to a new home," which helps make decisions on keeping or donating much easier.

I do have a ton of paperwork, that got taken out of a file cabinet 1 year ago (and 2 months to be precise).  The boxes were shoved into the office when the kitchen was boxed up to repair the flooring.

I found my hand crank coffee grinder, and my apple peeler/corer.  I honestly never had a chance to use the peeler.  How many of you have a peeler/corer combo and use it? 

Decisions are to be made here.  That fan was left upstairs by one of the kids, and it's on it's last leg, but I think we used it for one of the rooms we repaired and renovated.  It may be getting scrapped.

I hope that helps motivate you, if you need motivation.  We were just so overdue to purge/extreme clean/re-organize. 

Camping Tip (with a camper with water/grey water tank):  Wash your dishes with dawn powerwash (any environmentally safe dish soap) only, then over a dish tub run water over dishes to rinse, then dump the rinse water outside (or some campgrounds have a grey water dump near by).  This helps you keep your grey water tank from filling too fast while camping.  It is easier to get fresh water, than to dump your grey water tank.

When we had our pop up camper, it had a water tank, but for some reason we never used it.  We would heat water on the campfire, and fill two dish tubs to wash and rinse our dishes.

We are on day 21 of no rain, but that may change later today.  Crossing fingers, saying a prayer, and sending out that good mojo.

It's Strawberry Season!!

 

Just when I said there was "nothing" going on here....BAM!  Strawberries!  I'll be busy over the next few days.  I am cutting back on how many jars of jam I can for us this year.  I canned too many last year.  I do can our jam reduced sugar, so it's more fruit to the jar.  I freeze some for smoothies, crumbles, crisps, and pancakes.  Of course we eat some fresh too.  

It'll keep me entertained indoors, as the Canadian wildfire smoke is choking us out in our state.  I noticed it two days ago.  The smoke is moving south, and we are in it's path, and it is very visible in the air (hazy).

On the extreme clean front, I am now pulling boxes out of my tiny office.  Keep in mind we boxed up the kitchen a year and two months ago, and some boxes from that job were still in there.  It's the last room with carpet too.

I found dishes from Mom's place, a lot of paperwork to shred or toss, 4 cones of black cotton yarn (gulp!), stuff that needs re-homed, some possibly donated, books to donate, and even toys the grandkids out grew already.  Sheesh.  Yeah, I will not be bored this week.

Oh, we finally delivered 5 boxes and one full bag of craft donations.  They were greatly appreciated, and my home has less "stuff" in it.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I've created a "on the back burner" to-do list now.  Sigh.  It's just reality for right now.  I've just accepted it.  By accepting, I stress less.  With the list, at least there is a future plan in place.

We have had a long week of cold nights, dry and very windy weather.  It has been an issue with the garden, and now we head into very hot weather.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I will link up later after she posts.  I have to get this day started early.

The weather . . .

80's/90's with lows in the 60's

As I look outside my window . . .

No traffic, as it's a holiday and most normal people have the day off.  Not my husband though.

Right now I am . . .

Listening to the weather, making coffee, and getting ready to water the garden.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Considering cutting back on how many times I write a blog post.  Do you read blogs daily?  Every other day?  Once a week?  Once a month?  

I still haven't decided on a cordless stick vacuum.  I haven't had time to venture out either.  Gardeners would understand, as it is a busy time of year.

Listening to . . .

Radio

How I am feeling . . .

Pretty good.  Just feeling a bit frustrated getting behind with the garden.  

On the breakfast plate . . .

Enjoying reheated leftovers of this Mexican Breakfast Skillet.  Delish!

On the reading pile . . .

I'm still reading Atomic Habits.  Some parts are very interesting, and a few a bit over the top, but still enjoying it.

On my TV this week . . .

Well, not the news.  We were subscribed to YouTube TV, but they raised their price.  We will stick with what we can stream via our wifi for now.

On the menu . . .

-Mom's Dried Beef Casserole (using quinoa pasta), and crock pot root vegetables

-Burgers, with lettuce/tomato/home canned pickles, and roasted rosemary asparagus

-not sure on the rest

Looking around the house . . .

My one daily pick, for my extreme clean progress - two craft containers to purge.

To-do list . . .

In no particular order

-laundry

-wash bedding and put on the line

-install new toilet seat in master bath
-dishes
-clean master bathroom

-trim rose bushes

-water garden

-boil eggs

-cook a pound of breakfast sausage

-dust entire house

For the week:

-take donations and drop them off 

-finish painting Kilz on upstairs larger floor

From the camera . . .

Looked like Christmas cooking onion with red pepper and home grown asparagus!  I just "winged" this dinner.

I used some herbs from the herb garden, home canned tomato sauce, organic ground beef (that I pre-cooked and froze thankfully, which saved me time), and added some garlic.  I topped it with cheese, and more herbs.  So good!  Oh, and I finally mastered at making half of what I used to make ha ha!  Oh, another thing!  I baked with with green lentil pasta (100% organic green lentil flour).  It was pretty good.  More dense of a pasta, but healthier, and didn't fall apart like chickpea pasta.  The downfall?  It's not sold in our stores.

Devotional, Prayers, Quote. . . 

Meal Plan Fail ~ Purged more Craft Supplies ~ First Herbs to go in the Dehydrator

We woke up to a brisk 36°F outside this morning.  I'm so glad I brought in my hanging potted flowers, and all of the veggie plants.  I was worried about getting things planted late, but this year I am glad we are behind.  I even brought in my potted comfrey plant.  Brr.

I failed to write down my meal plan, and discovered I had a pound of ground beef, and a pound of sausage thawing at the same time.  I cooked both up, put some sausage in the fridge for dinner, and split up the rest to freeze for the up coming week.  I guess you could can I made a plan from a failed plan ha ha!

I made us some air fryer stuffed mushrooms for the first time.  These had some sausage in them. They were delicious, but now my husband wants me to try other recipes, ha ha!

No gardening these past few days.  It's been too cold, and my husband was called off to help a family member, so no more tilling either.  I dumped all the grow bags, and every single one had holes in them.  The plan is to replace them with raised beds.

When the kids were in elementary school, I signed up for several holiday classroom parties.  I loved volunteering for the Christmas parties, and I would make a homemade ornament for every kid in the class, and even wrap every one.  I had a lot of ribbon in my craft stash, and some of those rolls had 100 yards on them ha ha!  I have saved any ribbon I use for crocheted baby booties, and have boxed up the rest to donate.  I have 4 boxes ready to deliver, but may need to go through a few more items.  They are going to a center for women.  

I also created handmade ornaments every single Christmas to gift my family.  I did this for years, and loved creating a new one every year.  They probably had enough for several trees, ha ha!  I just stopped making them after a while, but this was the latest purge.  Feels good to unload some things for once.

I harvested my oregano before the frost arrived.  It is thriving this year.

I also harvested some chive flowers.  I plan to make chive flower infused oil.  Chive oil is tasty for frying potatoes, and for any dips.  Did you know you can eat the flowers?  I just read that.  I have not tried them, but have any of you?  Interesting for sure.
 

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

We had wonderful weather over the weekend, other than thunderstorms Sunday morning.  I've started to do the plant "shuffle" so they are acclimated to the outdoors prior to planting in the garden.  We are still working on garden fencing, and fixing the truck.

I picked a handful of asparagus, and we should be enjoying it in a few more days for dinner.  

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

The weather . . .

Cloudy, 60's and more rain.  They are predicting rain all weekend, so if I want peas planted, I need to do it between this rain and the weekend rain (or not at all).  It's getting late for peas here.

As I look outside my window . . .

It's cloudy, and looks like rain.

Right now I am . . .

Making a second pot of coffee.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Just a lot going on between weather and garden.

How I am feeling . . . 

Tired, but so glad I did a super tidy/clean up before we left for the weekend.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Not sure yet.  I have to make it ha ha!

What I am wearing . . .

Jammies.  Just starting out my morning right now.

On my reading pile . . .

I'm still reading Atomic Habits.  By the way, it's not a good book to take on a car ride, ha ha!  I going to have to start another book and rotate them.  This book is good, but it's as interesting as a good fiction book.

On my TV . . .

A Man Called Otto

On the menu . . .

I completely forgot about planning a menu this week!

-Tacos
-Crock pot pork chops, rice or quinoa, and roasted brussel sprouts or asparagus from the garden
-walleye or perch, homemade fries 
-leftovers

Looking around the house . . .

It's getting there.  I should have the upstairs larger room flooring painted by the end of the week.  Downstairs is looking much better.  I still have a few boxes to sort, and the truck is still full of donations to deliver.  I need to start on the front porch again soon.  We purchased flowers for the hanging baskets, and they need put up yet.

On the to-do list . . .

-laundry
-unload dishwasher
-bake a breakfast for a few days
-make egg salad
-get plant hangers from storage and put flowers in them
-get dog kennel from storage for chicks/start acclimating them with the adult hens
-set plants out today
-put last of the smaller fencing around asparagus and toss in straw

For the week:

-start weeding herb garden and larger rose bed

-completely clean out one kitchen cupboard/purge and sanitize and add shelf liner

What I am creating . . .

Finally put this pair together.

Newest road trip/porch project - square doilies for living room lamps.  I almost have the first one done.

Still working on this blanket.  It's in a project basket for now.  In case you missed the post, you can find the pattern links for this:  HERE.

Simple pleasure. . .

Painting my toenails with nail polish.  I actually bought a pair of flip-flop slippers for this summer too.  I don't do this often, so when I do, it is a treat (using chemical free polish).

From the camera . . .

(we did some easy hiking over the weekend)

Devotional, Prayers . . .

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (1 Corinthians 10.12-13, NIV)

Better Weather Day Finally! Blogger Question!!

 I've been busy with errands, dental appt. and what not.  I finally got an appointment booked with Daughter E for a hair cut soon.   I cleaned out the refrigerator, and got towels washed.

What I need to be doing is locating a new resource for straw.  It's been added to the to-do list.  

There is light at the end of the purge/extreme clean tunnel.  Everything that has made the "cut" to go back into the closet, or upstairs, or elsewhere, is being put in containers with lids, and labeled.  Luckily, I'm emptying totes, so I haven't had to buy new ones.

One bin (storage bin with no lid) contained new flour sack towels.  The bin has been given away to one of the kids, and the towels washed and dried.  I found 17 towels (two sizes) and 6 cloth napkins.  When a certain store put them on clearance, I went to all the stores in the area and stocked up on them.

Back in 2014 I cleaned and found the napkins and embroidered cute camping designs on them.  So cute, that we can't get ourselves to use them in the camper.  Seriously.  We take them every year, and every year we use paper towels.  You can see the designs on this blogpost.

Anyway, that pile is all folded up, and awaiting a container.  I keep them on hand to embroider for gift giving and for ourselves, but I am putting a few in the kitchen drawer (un-embroidered), as I use them often, and I have no time to fancy them up right now.  The cloth napkins will be donated.

I'm trying to be smarter on baking/cooking days.  I whipped up a pound of bacon at once.  We have some for eggs and bacon sandwiches, and for a dinner recipe.

My question - yesterday I replied to a comment and it normally puts my comment right through and onto the post with my photo of our first rooster.  It did not this time.  I had to click on it to approve it and my photo is gone.  

I then did a "test" comment and it went right on the post like normal.  Anyone else having weird things going on with your settings on your blog?

Tuesday Tidbits ~ Another Rainy Day Clean Up Day

 The rain has not let up.   Thank goodness for rain coats and muck boots.   I did check the asparagus, and oddly I won't need to harvest any for a day or two.

I finished making the last 3 lavender sachets.  While I had the travel iron out, I made up some homemade teabags.  I love that I can find things much easier now.

I decided to start at one end of the kitchen, and clean my way around.  I did just that.  Counters are spic n' span clean, all paint put away, other than the one can I still need.  

Paperwork was taken care of, items put in the mailbox to mail, craft supplies put back, other than the current earrings in progress.  Once they are finished, I will put that away.  

Bread box was sanitized, and cabinet doors wiped down.  Sink was given a good scrubbing too.

I loaded up the truck with donations, and completely emptied a large tote.

Prices are so high, that I decided to keep the empty tote in storage out of the way.  You never know when you may need one, and I do not want to pay today's prices.

Speaking of prices, UPS delivered a larger Amazon order.  I can see where someone cut the tape, re-taped it and put a second label on top.  The box was empty.  The box on the inside of the box was empty, with styrofoam left inside.  I notified Amazon right away, but they say it could be up to May 3rd before I hear from them.

I have some more paper work to take care of, but the kitchen is finally (finally) feeling a lot lest chaotic, cleaner, and tidy.  Daughter E has a pile to look through and I have some craft boxes to go through that are sitting on the floor as well.

I have a pile of paperwork that needs shredded. I guess I will buy a paper shredder, or see if recycling has a shredding day set.  Our shredder quit working.

In the midst of all that cleaning, tidying and purging, I managed to make us a strawberry crunch for us.  I still have strawberries in the freezer.  I added more strawberries to it this time.

My recent "cleaning" and "purging" post have probably been boring.  There isn't much going on until this rain quits.  We have some outdoor projects to start on soon, and we still have one room to remove carpet from.

Happy Homemaker Monday

 

The weekend went by fast, and was not what I had intended.  My husband, oddly after a first weekend off work, had us running around all weekend.  I was exhausted by Sunday night, and felt like we didn't get anything done at the house.  

It rained all weekend, and it's still raining.

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

I will link up when she posts.  I'm starting my day early to get my kitchen back in order.  There are paint cans everywhere, and it's in disarray.

The weather. . .

Rain!  Lots of rain!  Now they say possible snow today.  Yes, I said snow.  Sigh.  I had to bring my rosemary plants back inside.  They will not be planted until after Mother's Day anyway, but snow???  It could be something like a snow/rain sleet mix.

As I look outside my window . . .

Dark, dreary, and raining.

Right now I am . . .

Drinking hot coffee, trying to wake up to our regular schedule around here.

Thinking and pondering . . .

Trying to decide if I want to keep my macramé supplies or donate them.  Prices are high, so I'm on the fence with this decision.  I may keep them for now.

We've been pondering about which type of electric solar fencing to get, and my husband is not taking care of that. 

How I am feeling . . .

Tired.

On my breakfast plate. . .

Leftover omelet with grits casserole and cheese.

On my lunch plate . . .

Have no idea yet.  Egg salad?

On my dinner plate . . .

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole, Veggie, Strawberry Crunch

What I am wearing . . .

Right now?  Jammies, robe and slippers until the coffee kicks in.

On my reading pile . . .

I'm still reading Atomic Habits.  I'm not getting a lot of reading time, but I do try to read each day, even if it's a page.

On my TV this week . . .

Movies on Netflix/Amazon Prime

On the menu . . .

Have no idea.  Will try and think about that today.

Looking around the house . . .

It's looking better, but I still need to gather the donation items and get them out of the house.

On the to-do list . . .

-laundry

-check on asparagus 
-complete kitchen clean up, could take all week

-work on upstairs flooring

-gather all donations and load them into the truck
-finish making lavender sachets (only 2 more to make)
-bake a dessert

My simple pleasure. . .

Popcorn made using our whirly pop stove top popper, using organic coconut oil, and fine salt.  So good for a movie binge/crochet evening.

What I am creating . . .

Lavender Sachets.  You can read my post on how to make these on my S.C.R.A.P. blogspot:  HERE

I'm still crocheting this blanket. (old photo)

From the camera . . .

I have nothing today folks.  It's been raining here for days.

Prayers . . .

Prayers for our friend Jim, who had another stroke.