Friday Tidbits

I'm busy working on a few handmade Christmas presents, working on an order from my "store" and ................

finally getting back on the treadmill for daily exercise!  Yay!

I added a new moon photo to my flickr page.

We've had some very sunny days after all the rain we got, but rain is in the forecast for Sunday.

The kids left me a note this morning  (on the computer screen):  1. Go to google.   2. Type in "Do a barrel roll"   3.  Wait for it.  


Go ahead and try it.  I did.  It's funny what entertains kids these days.  


The kids are baking and painting salt dough Christmas ornaments. Cheap, easy, and fun entertainment.


I had a chuckle the other day with my youngest daughter.  I said "go get a cleaning apron on and get to cleaning."  She responded, "who wears aprons anymore?"


So, when she got home from school, I not only kept my "cleaning apron" on, but stood outside the front door when her school bus stopped, so not only she could see, but the entire bus of kids. Ha ha ha ha!  It's just an old 1/2 apron I bought at a thrift store, but it works.  And she thought you only wear an apron to cook.


Have a great Friday today!

Excerpts from a Journal Junkie

from the homesteading journal . . .

I taught one of the kids how to mix washing soda and borax to make homemade dishwasher detergent....the goat roof is not done, we need one more sheet of tin roofing .....we got a thin layer of snow last night, and need to restock the porch with firewood....Dad was right about prices sky rocketing.....the local paper already went up $.25/an issue and I saw that redbox movies have increased $.20/a day rental.....thankfully the library still loans out free movies....


from the garden journal . . .

I am already down to the last few jars of home canned tomato sauce.  I used 3 pints to make a stew with leftover turkey and it turned out very good.  

   Tomato Sauce and Leftover Turkey Stew   

In a crock pot, add:

8 potatoes diced

carrots sliced, I didn't count, maybe 5-6?

celery, diced, maybe 5 stalks

2 onions, small/med, diced

1- 1/2 cups frozen corn

1/2 cup or so frozen garden green pepper

3-4 cloves garlic minced 

3 pints of canned seasoned tomato sauce

2- 2 1/2 lbs of leftover turkey (don't add this yet)

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

season, I used basil

(before turkey was added)

Cook on low for 6- 8 hours until potatoes and carrots are tender, just before you eat, toss in cooked turkey until it's heated through.  Enjoy!  This is a thick stew. This was a large pot of stew, perfect for a large family. 

from the family journal . . .

We had our first school delay today.  They delayed school last night due to flooding....I went to school conferences and got a good update....I missed a few meetings due to being sick....including a National Honor Society breakfast....but we are finally getting rid of the sickness here....

from the handicraft journal . . .

I am still working on many projects, but finally bought the velcro I need to finish sewing the dog coat.  Unfortunately, with being sick so long, I am behind on many projects.....

from the gratitude journal . . .

Today I am thankful for:

~the rain that fills our well

~wood in the fireplace

~coupons that I can use

~paper and pencil

~the views from my front porch

~God's Protection

~trees

~farmer's who grow and provide straw and hay

~surprises in the mail

~the wind, for drying my laundry outside