Tuesday Tidbits

A trip to the other "Big City" was canceled due to the bad weather.  I just jotted a short list for the daughter who has to work there today.  Hopefully can pick up a few things.

We decided not to go after my youngest called and said she spun off the road after spinning in a circle.  I was thankful we have a family group text and someone was available to get her back on the road.

Thankfully, before she walked out the door I made her put on her snow boots.   In hind sight, I should have told her to pack an overnight bag and stay the night in town with my Mom or brother. The roads are just terrible.

The extreme clean resumes with my husband back to work.  What left the house so far (or is boxed ready to leave)?

-several refillable zoo cups.  I'm sure with covid, they will never be doing the refill offer they used to do.

-several glass dessert cups.  They came from Goodwill, and will be going back.  I don't use them anymore.

-notebooks and notebook paper, school binders (8 so far) that the kids don't need anymore

First time loading a video, so I hope it plays.  It shows how the cordless blinds work.  Sorry for the bad light.  It was snowing again.  I'll get better photos of them soon.  They do come with a wand to control the light when they are all the way down too.

Youngest, my husband and myself spent time shoveling out parts of the driveway.  I had no idea it was so bad until we went to fetch firewood.

My fancy technical instrument to move the firewood to the house was the sled.  Always works like a charm.

Back to the shoveling....it's about a foot or more deep in the areas behind the vehicles.  I have to go back out this morning and work more on it.  The wheel horse is not working (on the spring list so we are prepared for next winter, sigh).  Anyway, we have to get it shoveled, because it's going to freeze in the next few days.  

We did manage to shovel out the very heavy stuff at the end of the drive where the snowplow blows it in.  Had to shovel out the mailbox too.  Mail wasn't delivered because it wasn't shoveled out.  Our driveway is a huge U-shaped drive.  We quit putting up a snow fence.  It didn't matter where we put it, it was always in the wrong spot for the wind we got.

We had ham, asparagus and baked beans for dinner last night, so I have leftover ham to work with.  It may be a nice hot soup of some sort.  I'm going to need it after shoveling snow.

Ideas for revitalizing and energizing yourself (cont.)

16. Clear your mind

17. Develop the attitude of gratitude

18. Think positively

19. Learn to accept what you cannot change

20. Learn to love yourself

 

Happy Homemaker Monday

The hallway flooring project continues, and yes we had some hiccups to delay the final edging of the steps.  Heck we didn't get any trim done either.

My brain wasn't working when I bought the new blinds.  I scrubbed both hallway windows, and we installed one.  Only to find out I bought the wrong ones (too short).  We got a good laugh, loaded them into the truck and luckily they had two left of the right length. 

We love the new blinds.  They had 3 brackets and the blinds snapped right in.  No messing around with metal slide in brackets.  Oh, the best part?  They are cordless and I love, love, love that.  I'll have photos to share as we get closer finishing (which could take 2-3 more weekends at this rate).

Over the weekend, I managed to clean the very top shelf in a kitchen cupboard.  Guess what I found? 

Ha ha ha!  The girls seem to think we tried using them for bottle feeding the kids (baby goats).  They may be right.  I found three that are going to be donated.  I know we used pop bottles and special bottle nipples for the goats.  I haven't found them yet, but there are more cupboards to purge yet.

I'm also tickled pink I found storage baskets that fit the very top cupboard, and they have a low handle, so us tall people can easily reach, and pull down the basket (makes better use of the space and we don't have to stand on anything to get to that shelf).  I need about 3 more, but thrilled they were only $1 each.  Best inexpensive storage idea yet.

 I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. 

I'll link up when she posts.

 The weather outside is. . .

14°F, snowing and blowing and a brisk cold wind out of the northeast.  Nasty weather.  There is really bad drifting over the roads. Daughter K got home last night and said the roads in the county she works were all clear.  Once she hit our county the roads were terrible.  I saw one snow plow yesterday.  They are really bad at keeping our roads clear.  There are many delays, some closings and our county and others are under level 1 emergency.

How I am feeling this morning . . .

Cold.  The northeast wind makes this house so cold.

On my mind . . . 

I need to get more netting cut.  I have to push 10 yards over the kitchen table, cut 3 inch strips and roll into balls for scrubbies to be crocheted.  It can take me about a half of an hour just to cut enough for 2-3 scrubbies.  I like to devote one day for cutting netting and another for the crocheting.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Coffee so far.  It may be a round of blueberry pancakes.  I guess I decide that later.  Maybe some sausage too.

On my reading pile . . .

A 1933 copy of The Earth Turns, by  Gladys Hasty Carroll.  Fun fact.  The book was the 2nd best selling book in 1933.  I obtained it from a library book sale years ago and found it on one of the bookshelves.

On my TV . . .

Comedies on Netflix.  We just need some uplifting movies.

On the menu this week . . .

Ham, roasted brussel sprouts

Tuna and noodle, mashed potatoes, corn

Soup of some kind?  Not sure yet on the rest of the menu

From the camera . . . 

Pretty much sums up my weekend.  The dollar store had scrub brushes that worked perfect to clean up the windows.  

Looking around the house . . .

I have one last box of books ready to donate.  I laughed when I opened a cupboard in the garage the other day.  My husband saved all his college books.  I told him he's next to purge, ha ha!

Oh, and Daughter K still hasn't taken down her Christmas tree she put up in my living room (sigh).  She's working a lot, and strange hours, so it'll come down on her next day off hopefully. 

New recipe I tried or want to try . . .

Muffin recipe I have not had time to try yet.

To relax this week I will . . .

Read, crochet or journal.

Something I want to share . . .

Ideas for revitalizing and energizing yourself

11. Learn about stress

12. Be sensitive to all dimensions of life 

13. Take a course

14. Go to the public library

15. Think about great ideas

(sharing 5 a post, as there are 83)

On my prayer list . . .

Mom.  She wants to get the new vaccine, but has reservations about getting it.  She's had bad allergic reactions to medications in the past that landed her in the hospital.

Moon ~ Weekend Work

Kingsley is an early riser, and when I took the dogs out I snapped some photos of the moon yesterday morning.

After hearing suggestions to put the website on my scrubbie packaging, I came up with an idea.  I have address labels.  I'll print the contact info on them and slap them on the backside of the cardstock.

It's another weekend of working on the hallway.  We are praying for no interruptions this weekend.  We'd like a full weekend to finish up as much as we can.

We will have to split wood, because we need restocked before the snow storm rolls in too.

I already have 3 more purge areas to dive into next.  One being a top shelf in a kitchen cupboard.  Two is back to the utility room, and three is the entryway from hallway to garage (I still have a tote of goat milking stuff in there).

Ideas for revitalizing and energizing yourself:

6. Make use of helping professions

7. Keep track of our lonely periods

8. Find out what is controllable in your life

9. Be honest with yourself

10. Read about human growth.

 

Putting Up ~ Winter Blues ~ Ideas to Revitalizing and Energizing Yourself

I grated and froze some romano cheese.  I am constantly putting up as we take something out of the freezer.  The way this world is being run, I'm working on preparedness constantly.

I am cleaning out one binder I had on my bookshelf with writing prompts.  I have no idea why I saved this one, but I am sharing considering the lack of sunshine this winter.   I have no idea where it was from, but I am sure I've had it for over 15 years.  

I never thought that putting in new flooring would lead to all of this other purging, but I'm glad it's happening.  I have more binders to clean out.

Also, in my binder, I have a list of 83 ways to revitalize and energize yourself.  I'll try and lit 5 each day until I reach 83.  

1. Listen to the voice in your body

2. Make a list of your present goals

3. Write a diary or a journal

4. Analyze your successes

5. Get feedback from others on how they see you.

Ha ha, we warmed up.  Yep.  "Feels like" 11° and 17°F this morning.  Stay warm and have a fantastic weekend.

This and That

 

Brr!  It's 20°F out this morning, but feels like 9°F with the wind.  We'll only get up to 26 and a low of 15°F today.  Fire is stoked and animals fed, other than the chickens.  

My husband has to work outside, and comes home exhausted from the cold weather.

I am sure the chicken's water has froze.  In the new coop I want a watering unit the heats in winter and I may spring for one for the barn cat next winter.  She is getting older and it's hard to keep water out for her when she needs it.

On a good note, our state curfew was lifted from 10pm to 11pm.  That is good news for businesses and their employees.  If the number of hospitalizations drop again, they will do away with the entire curfew.

Daughter K took a covid test after returning from her trip to NJ/NY out of respect to others (especially because of Mom).  It was negative.

I came across another reading challenge.  Just wanted to share it, although January is about over.  I can't say I'll follow this one, because I came across so many un-read books of my own while cleaning.

The wooden window panes in the hallway are a bit worn.  What would you suggest to spruce the wood up?  I thought about Murphy's oil soap.  The wood is dull and needs some life put back to it.

Shopping online for the curtains I want has been troublesome.  I am unable to find the same ones I bought for my living room, which I absolutely love.  I may resort to a swag with the new blinds.  I'll figure it out.

I whipped up a template of my own, using cardstock, my printer and some "loot" bags from the dollar store.  I think my packaging turned out pretty professional looking.  Don't you?

Today I need to come up with packaging for the soap saver bags.  I had every intent to get a few rows done on daughter's cardigan and get a few other restock items worked on.  It didn't happen.  Today, I will get my treadmill walk done early and get started early on chores.  I'd like to sit and curl up with yarn this afternoon.  Especially with this cold weather.

Tonight's dinner is partly crock pot - roasted turkey.  I will prep fresh broccoli and steam it later and maybe another veggie.  The crock pot will help free up more time to get some crochet work done.  I feel like the days are flying by lately.

I'm off to brew another pot of coffee.  May your day be bright and full of of positivity.

Day in the Kitchen ~ Compiling Lists

Although I thought winter would be a restful time and much handiwork would be done, it hasn't been.  We have been prosperous with starting small on remodeling.  It however, puts me behind in regular chores.

Instead of snow, we got something in between, like a mix of freezing rain/sleet.  There was a layer of ice on everything.  

Tuesday was a busy day in the kitchen.  First on the list - infuse a hearty nettle tea.  Second, clean up the kitchen to boil chicken for our dinner casserole.  I had to boil eggs, make a breakfast scramble with greens, and make organic pudding for a side dish.

There was laundry to do, kindling to fetch, firewood to fetch, chickens to tend, rugs to spot clean, carpets to vacuum.....long day.

By the way, fetching the firewood was a bit tricking with the driveway a total sheet of ice.  I have spikes on my boots, but I still had trouble getting the cart back to the house.

Dinner was Mexican Chicken Casserole, so I pulled some homemade creamed soups out of the freezer to make it.  I used organic Chia/Quinoa tortilla chips.

More lists were compiled - craft store, dollar store, groceries, a trip to Aldi's etc.  Aldi now sells organic white quinoa.

Today we have leftovers, so I'm truly happy for that.  Also, I heard back from the museum gift shop.  They want to sell my dish scrubbies (another happy moment).

New Project ~ Little House Inspired Shawl ~ Tidbits

Our new project (not my photo).  We will be building a boot rack out of old barn wood.  It will be taller than the one in the photo, so muck boots, work boots and snow boots will all fit.  We'll start on it after we finish the hallway flooring and trim work.

I was asked to find my post with the Little House inspired shawl I crocheted.  Here is the link to the pattern.

5 more boxes of books have left the house.  Yay to that.

Woke up to a layer of ice outside.  Not much snow as predicted.  Not sure if we'll get much today, but I'll be inside anyway.