. . .from the handiwork journal

My recent attempts to soak in some porch time, have been short due to 90 degree days here lately.   The bugs are terrible, and I'm guessing from the recent rains we have had. 

 . . .the second doily for the living room.  I honestly forgot about this project.  It was in my on-the-go bag.  I need to get this finished.

. . .current status on the current large blanket.  It's too hot here to work on such a large project.

. . .finally finished this (top picture) dishcloth.  Started another one.  Finished that one.

I used the leftover yarn to crochet two hand sanitizer holders, and then used the very last of the yarn.....

...to make 4 granny square centers.  I have just a wee bit of yarn left.  

How this project started:  I was cleaning up the very last box of craft items in the living room.  I had a crocheted strawberry for a keychain for one daughter.  I went to the utility room (next room to get a complete extreme cleaning) to open a craft container to get a key ring for the strawberry, and saw 4 of these snap clasps (still in their packages).  

I think I bought the clasps about 5-6 years ago (or longer, as that Hobby Lobby closed).  Anyway, I went to my yarn stash boxes, and came up (took me about 5-6 trials) with a self made pattern, for a cuff bracelet.  Leave it to me to create a pattern with yarn that is discontinued ha ha!  I've had this crochet thread for many years as well.

. . . crocheted 4 cuff bracelets.  My husband was impressed.  Not just with the finished project, but that it used supplies I already had.  By the way, the clasps are not leather, they are faux leather, and can still be purchased at some craft stores.  They are almost double the price however, from when I purchased them.

I have plans for these already.  I would like to get one made with two more color I do not have.

. . .lap afghan on the crochet hook.  It's my current "on-the-go" project. Recognize the yarn?  Leftover small balls from my own recent blanket, the one that was ordered after that blanket, from Christmas ornaments, recent crochet hats, and from other projects.

The very small balls of yarn are then donated to the local school art teacher.  Do you have any suggestions for the smaller balls of leftover yarn?  They could be used to make granny squares I guess.

. . .sold this oversized hot pad (these are approx. 7 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches, made per the request of my Mom).  Funny story about this sale.  A long time friend from high school, messaged me a photo of an oversized dishcloth, and asked me to make her another (she was using it for a hot pad for 9 x 13 size dishes).  

I told her, that was not made by me, and I make double thick.  She was embarrassed that she never bought from me, but wanted my last one in my inventory.  Odd color I used, but she bought it.  I have had one more request, so I will be doing an inventory check on any cotton cone yarn I have.

I used to make them like this.  I have this one in my kitchen, and have used it almost daily for the last 13-13 years or more.  It's about 12 x 10 3/4 inches.  I may make a few more of these as well.  They are great for  9 x 9 dishes, cookie sheets, pizza pan, etc.  However this was my very first one, and it was single crochet.  I now have longer Afghan hooks.

. . .  I decided to donate all of these jars I made so many years ago.  I recycled jars and crafted them to fill with homemade granola for my side of the family (many, many years ago) for Christmas.   It just never happened.   These jars will find a new home.   

Question:  Where is the best place to buy a board for crocheted granny squares?  I may be doing a large blanket with granny squares next summer (maybe this summer).  I do not have one yet.

Like this one.  (source Walmart).  I am looking to get one large enough to have space for 4 stacks.  

New Recipe Tried ~ Rhubarb Infused Vodka

Go figure.  The one year we did not grow cherry or grape tomatoes, and I am finding many new recipes that we love!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad, and we love it!  We can't wait to make with with our own cucumbers, and bell peppers, but next year I will be growing cherry and/or grape tomatoes.  There is nothing better than a cold dinner on a very hot day.

 I was a bit late, but finally got the rhubarb infused vodka strained and bottled.  The light makes the color look different, but they are all looking good.

Rain is on the move today, so mowing is in progress.  The tomato patch (larger one) is too dry to weed, so I am thankful for the rain.  I've been out in the gardens every morning.

I was a bit surprised to see a banana pepper so early this year, but happy for the harvest.

I have a stack of library books to look through.  I am looking for a specific type of hat pattern.  I just have not had time to open the books.  I am hoping today, with the rain, I will get some free time.

Garden Work

 

Just a few pictures.  By the way, flies can bite thru the garden sleeves.

Older photo, but do you prune your zucchini plants?  Yellow squash?  I watched a video about this, and pondered that thought.  I have never cut stems off of my plants, but I read that the bees can pollinate much better, as they will see the flowers better if you prune them.  I don't want to kill my plants, so I'm asking here if you prune your squash plants?

Garden work.

Rinse and Repeat.

Best soap so far, for cleaning my hands/nails after garden work.

Chit Chat on the Porch

There are always pros and cons with gardening.  I feel both pros and cons are in the daily chores.   I try to take advantage of the weather either way. 

 

I am constantly reminding myself, that I am one person.  It's normal for the housework to suffer, if my attention is on the garden.  The flower beds suffer if the housework needs attention and so forth.  

Our heat index was at 91°F by 11am yesterday, but any time out in the garden is better than none.

I've been using my clothesline despite humidity.   I will need to replace it soon, and the trees need trimmed (adding that to our long to-do list).

Question for those who can:   

My canning pot, which I've used for more than (or about) 20 plus years, has a few rust spots on the bottom.  Suggestions on removing the rust?  I tried googling, and I couldn't find a real good answer to this.  Or is it time to replace it?  Or just use steel wool?  

Garden ~ Kitchen-ness ~ Utility Room Purge (the room that holds way too much ha ha!)

 

Our 4th of July started out very foggy, but the remainder of the day was in the high 80's, and sunny.  We spent the morning tying up tomato plants, until the heat index turned 91°F.

  Those tomato plants are not all of them, I have a main tomato patch as well.

Our zucchini plants are about 5 feet wide this year.  Never in our life, have we seen them this large.  Don't mind the weeds, I'll get those when the ground is a bit more dry out here.  You can see the small whirly-gig, and can compare that to the plant.  Amazing!

  

I'm still trying to resurrect the green onions.  Golly they took a hit with the heat and recent drought.  I was hoping for the rain to help, but it will take some work to bring them back to life.

I like to keep healthy snacks prepared for hot days.  Some days we don't feel like eating a large meal, so I whipped up some hummus, and added spinach this time.

One of our favorite breakfast casseroles with chili peppers and cottage cheese.  

 

Craft containers on a shelf in the utility room - the purge/extreme clean has started.

 

I dumped out 3 containers, of the "jewelry" making craft supplies.  I went through them to either toss, donate or keep, and filled a bag to donate.  However, I think one daughter wants to look through it first.  Keep in mind, we have 6 kids, and that was years and years of crafting with them.  The girls really used these, and there was a mess in the bottom of each container.  I found a small set of screwdrivers, that will go to the garage.

All of my patterns were put back into a binder, but my binder ring in the center broke.  I'll revisit that project when I have a new binder, but the patterns are all in there, and in their properly marked section.

The Pharmacy Door Story

 The back story to the pharmacy door:  My Dad was a pharmacist for a living.   The drug store also had a photo counter, cigar/cigarette counter with candy counter, a general store counter and items sold there, and an old time (what I called) fountain.  

(source:  Hometown Library)

If you look to back right upper corner, that is the pharmacy, with enclosed windows that were added later in the years.  If I remember correctly, the enclosure was added to lock it up, due to people breaking in and stealing from the store.  I can't recall if it was a business requirement, or because of the breaking and entering and stealing, but the enclosure make it possible to lock that area up.

At the "fountain"  there was a counter with stools and booths to sit at.  I grew up working behind that counter at nights and weekends.  I sometimes worked for the main, full time gal Carol that ran the fountain.  If my memory is correct, all of my siblings, at some point in their lives, also worked there.  I think my first pay was $2.25/hour.  I loved that job.

  Dad built this door for the entrance to pharmacy counter he worked behind in the drug store (before the glass windows and door enclosure was added).   He painted it, and when the store closed, he kept the door.  When he passed, it was found at his apartment I think?  I ended up with it, and had it for 2 years before figuring out what to do with it.  We talked about many ways to use it, and one suggestion was to decorate a barn with it ha ha!  I wanted a room pantry with this as the door (getting a kick out of the "pharmacy" painted on the door), and we considered it for other uses.

It's going to be a door for one coat cubbie, to replace a curtain, and keep the dust out.   A work in progress, but getting done.

Happy Homemaker Monday

It's a doozy of a post today, ha ha!  I cut part of the post out, and will post it tomorrow.

I took advantage of the holiday weekend sales, and finally ordered a sheer, double rod curtain, for the side door.  My Mom was always upset people could see directly in ha ha!     I already have the new rods, so I am looking forward to that update being done.

As for the "honey-do" list for these rainy days, we got the walk-in closet inside trim back up,  moved an antique desk from utility room (put there during renovations) to the spare room upstairs, along with the newly painted bookshelf, the last ceiling fan installed, ceiling paint touched up, camper items put in camper for the season, and started on rectifying the utility room.

Before:  Desk buried, with pharmacy door buried.

The utility room was originally the back of the house, so it was an addition before we moved in.  I unburied the desk and gave it a good cleaning.  I already had a nice chair upstairs for it.  I will cover it all with a sheet for now (upstairs).

I tossed out two large paper mache art projects collecting dust, found a shoe box of check book copies, got rid of the board games to the kids, donated one board game, started another box for donations, washed up our rain coats, some doilies, and stuff to donate.  My husband said, "oh we could play Scrabble" and I just laughed.   We haven't played it for over 14 years. 

 That is the problem with cupboards that don't go all the way to the ceiling.  Stuff like games and kids art projects get stored there.  I'll admit the deer is very life like, but if she didn't take it with her, it gets tossed.  We can't save everything.

My husband wasn't happy with his honey-do list, but with a full day of rain in the forecast, I made sure we stayed on track.  However, by 2:30pm, we did not get one drop of rain, and he was upset for not going on a motorcycle ride.  It was very, very humid out, and the rain eventually arrived.

He is already making his own to-do list, as we talked about the fact some projects were sitting un-done and becoming an eye-sore.  We are on the right track to getting it all looking spiffy around here.

Once I get the rest of the floor cleaned up in the utility room, I'll be starting back on this project:

Our handy man put the outside trim on to make it fit, now I will need to paint that trim, and have the door finally installed.  I'll share the story behind this door in another post.

New Recipe Tried:

It's a ground turkey/quinoa casserole (online at iFoodreal.com), and suggested toppings of fresh tomatoes, and snipped green onion from the herb garden.  I'll admit, this was a lot of ground turkey and quinoa, but we like it.   The one thing I will do next time, is add more spices/herbs to it.  I would add more spinach to it as well.  It was good, and has 4 cloves of garlic, but we both felt it needed just a bit more flavor.  It's very healthy, and can be frozen. 

I think other toppings would be good on this as well.  I'd try it with freshly made salsa on top.  Hm.  Maybe I'll add jalapeno to the dish next time.  It's a nice recipe to make if you have any leftover quinoa as well.

Popcorn was a fail crop this year.  The drought may be the problem, so that area of the garden is going to be tilled up.  We got 5 stalks in 4 rows.  First time to have a fail popcorn crop.  Did you have a fail in your garden this year?

Today I am joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. I will link up when she posts.

The weather . . .

Hot, humid, and raining.  I'm pretty sure it's too wet in the garden for any work.

As I look outside my window . . .

There is a haze in the air, and the sun is trying to shine, but rain is in the forecast.  There is little to no traffic.  The weekend traffic was crazy going by here.

Right now I am . . .

Writing my to-do's for the day, and sipping coffee, slowly getting my energy to get a start on this day.  We worked very hard yesterday, and I was exhausted by dinner time.

Thinking and pondering . . .

If the garden is too wet to walk in today, and if the heat dries it up by morning, the plan may be to spend the 4th of July in the tomato patch, followed by an full afternoon of purging the garage.  It's all weather permitting of course.  The garage organizing is long over due, and one daughter may be visiting, which would be perfect for her to go through all the Christmas totes she left in the garage.

Listening to . . .

80's rock

How I am feeling . . .

Exhausted from yesterday, but pleased with our progress.  It's strange to have the weekend with my husband, then for him to get up to go to work for one day, then have another day off.  I'll take it.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm just wondering why his company just didn't let them have Monday and Tuesday off.  Most places around here are closed.

On the breakfast plate . . .

Cheddar and Chili Egg Casserole

On the lunch plate . . .

Leftover dinner from last night - Ground Turkey/Quinoa Casserole, topped with fresh tomato and some snipped green onions from the herb garden.

On the dinner plate . . .

No idea just yet.  Possibly cauliflower crust pizzas with home canned pizza sauce.

What I am wearing . . .

Still in pajamas, taking today a bit slower than yesterday. 

What I am reading . . .

Switching to this book, as I picked it up from the library.  I picked up a crochet book, because I am looking for a "hippie" beanie pattern (hat).  The library really reduced their selection, so I have to order from other libraries.

On my TV . . .

Older movies on Netflix

On the menu . . .

-Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, Quinoa, and

-Cauliflower crust homemade pizza with veggies and home canned pizza sauce

-chicken fajitas

-leftovers

Looking around the house . . .

To-do list . . .

-dishes

-laundry

-pay a few bills

-clean both bathrooms

-dust

-sweep and mop floors

-water porch pots

-check zucchini

-exercise

Extreme Clean this week:

 -put all these patterns back in the binder.  It may take all week, depending on days I get to work outside, but they have been like this since we removed the carpet from our bedroom and closet.  It's time to get them in their home.

-working in the utility room now, and trust me it is over due.  I had it clean and spic and span, then we started repairing and renovating.  Everything was boxed and moved to other rooms, and I found two more boxes of stuff in the utility room that were from the living room repairs.  

From the camera . . .

I used leftover door paint from the bathroom remodel, and it turned out great!  Love it!  We put it in the spare bedroom.  

Devotional, Bible Verse, Prayers . . .

Prayers for the family of the deceased man on the bicycle (see yesterday's post).  He was 60 years old, and riding his bicycle on the sidewalk.