Chit Chat

 

Beautiful sunrise we had here a few days ago.

Have you heard?  There is a mysterious dog illness nationwide right now.  We still plan to install a dog fence, but it's a scary time to adopt a dog. 

Have you been heard about all of the cantaloupe recalls lately?  There are many.

The weather continues to cause delays on the coop build.  The joy of homesteading.  It's raining here again today.  It rained all day yesterday.

Are you an evening tea drinker?  What is your go-to tea to wind down at the end of the day?  Is it something you grow perhaps? 

My husband asked why the Christmas tree didn't have ornaments yet.  I laughed.  I have told him over and over, that we never organized the garage, so he has his "things" blocking my access to the Christmas totes.  He has promised to clean that up soon. 

Do you give yourself rewards for good behavior?  Ha!  You know, like rewards for goals met?  Or breaking a bad habit, starting a new good habit, and rewards along the way?  Or for finishing a project you have dreaded to finish?

Do you pamper yourself to perk yourself up on days you are just dragging through it?

Paperwork ~ Pricing Continues

 Goodness, we went from snow, to freezing conditions, then up to the 50's and then more rain.  The weather is all over the charts.  The outside work awaits us.  

I turned on the outside Christmas lights, the small light up fixtures and the tree now.  My husband is very into Christmas decorating for the first time.  I am still not ready for Christmas spirit. 

Now a days, everything is online, so I spent almost 2 hours on the computer accessing several accounts, downloading forms, scanning them, uploading them...just for getting medical bills paid.  Good gravy!   The worst part is that since I had to print stuff, then I have to file it until the year is over with.  Oh I do not like paper work days like that.  It doesn't help when a site is down or having issues with a claim or what not. 

The good news, is I'll be caught up at the dentist, only to rack the bills back up again.  Long story short, when we first moved here we had to go to a chain dentist due to insurance.  After they ruined teeth on two of my kids (literally verified by another dentist), we got back to our original dentist, but they are still fixing everything they did wrong.  One of my kids had an emergency visit this year, only to find out her new dentist was angry at how the chain dentist so called filled cavities on her teeth.

So after several visits this summer, guess who is having a problem that stems from a crown done by the chain dental location?  Yep.  Me.  An expensive one, but they (my current dentist) say they can do it without replacing the crown with a brand new crown.  Geeze.  Merry Christmas to me!  

Pricing continues.  Golly, I think I started making these over 5 years ago.  Honestly, I don't even know if I still have the pattern.  These are the last of the last of these.  I will not be making anymore.

  They are crocheted mug covers, with matching coaster, and come with a mug or cold beverage travel cup (100% cotton yarn).  Pricing continues. . .

I love the pink and gray one I made.  Totally forgot what colors they were, until I unpacked them to price.

We used to have a pop up camper.  When we went camping with the kids, I had crocheted a specific color for each kid, so the cups/mugs were duly noted (as the camper mugs/cups were all the same).  Plus, the hot cocoa (or coffee) stayed warmer longer.

I  finished this Monstera leaf cup/mug coaster set, that fits in a "clay" pot for a fun look.  I have another pot crocheted.

I had already loaded up and packed a tote with these, and found more in another tote.  I counted 36 more!  These are those fun water balloons that are eco-friendly.  Oh boy.  I think I may gift some to the grandkids.   I doubt I'll sell any during winter time, but these need packaged up yet. 

How do these work?  You soak them in a bucket of water and toss.  Wash, dry and reuse. Summer fun for kids on a hot day.

Frigid ~ New Crock Pot Recipe Tried

 We warmed up from an 8°F wind-chill to 18°F.  I had the brainy idea it was great weather to muck the coop.  It was a bit windy, but half the coop was cleaned anyway.  Nothing like fetching one frozen egg in this frigid weather.  

Although the sun was out, the chickens wanted no part of the outside world.  They wanted to huddle inside.

I have been lazy with cooking, so it was a recipe to try from this cookbook.

Chicken Chickpea Tortilla Soup

I love my crock pot, but I'm not a big fan on "soups" for dinner.  It typically is not a substantial meal, and my brain immediately associates it served with some sort of bread.  Then I think a side sandwich.  What do you serve with your soups?  Another vegetable side sounds good too.

The recipe suggestions for serving it, say try yogurt, cheese, crunchy blue tortilla chips.  By the way, the nutritional information is included with the recipes in this book.

Anyway, the above recipe was easy and quick, and the results of test tasting were good.  Delicious!  We loved it.  I used a full 4 cloves of garlic (recipe says 3-4), and I only had one can of regular diced tomatoes, so the 2nd can was fire roasted (organic) tomatoes.  Also, the recipe states for 6 cups of stock.  I used 4 and it was plenty.  The photo is deceiving, as it shows very little broth.  Otherwise, I followed the recipe, and did not top it with anything, it was that good.

This and That

 

Detoxing after the holidays, as well as mentally. 

Not what I expected to show up, but shoveling for the first time of the winter season was therapeutic.  Not just the physical activity, but getting outside for a while.

It's "shot gun" week here in our state for deer season.  So far, it's been pretty quiet.  It has also been very cold too.

The dreaded moment - hand pricing all of the jewelry I made.  It's done.  Those are just the crocheted bracelets, and the beaded crocheted bracelets.  I organized the keychains, and priced them too, along with earrings and necklaces.  Pricing stuff continues....

A funny for you all.  I just found out that that piece on the top is magnetic for a reason.  It's so you can remove it to clean the lid.  I have wanted to find out why the lid was magnetic for a long time.  Every time I washed it, things stuck to the lid.  My husband got this Yeti from work, and gave it to me a while ago.  Oh boy, so did you know about this?

Just the Bits

 

We are into cold weather now, and it's been snowing off and on here lately.  Woke up to a wind chill of 8 degrees.  Yep, that cold (and more snow).

Still not in the mood to decorate for Christmas.  I have yet to turn on the porch Christmas lights.

A morning moon.  

I got frustrated with the chicken watering units sold in our stores.  They are either too big, or I can't hang them, or they don't let the water out as they should.  I ordered a new one online.  I am hoping it does the job.

We have hit another hiccup with the coop build.

All I can say, is I am thankful that Thanksgiving is over with. 

I've been experimenting with different ingredients for beef and bean breakfast burritos.  Eggs are far and few this time of year, so it's been sort of fun to take it slower in the kitchen.

Sugar alert!  There is cane sugar in your Randall's cooked and ready to eat pinto beans.  I keep these on hand for when I cook for a large group of people, and I never realized there was cane sugar in them.  

Best way to avoid that is to just cook your pinto beans from dry beans.  I do that in my crockpot (soaking the night before), and adding onion and garlic to them.  I call them the unfried refried beans.  I cook them all day in the crockpot with a bit of water and watch them so they maintain enough moisture.  I do not add any salt until the end.  The beans cook much better.  The beans end up versatile for many dishes.  I have  also frozen them after cooking them.

My pricing "station" is under way.  The more I price my crochet items, the more I am dreading the craft show.  Here I wanted to do this, and now we are talking about how we can't wait for it to be over with ha ha!

My husband has offered to pay me to stay home vs. set up at the craft and vendor show.  I'll be honest, I may take him up on that offer.

While I priced items the other day, one of our nephews came over to help us mow, but ended up repairing our dishwasher.  We ended up taking the inside of the dishwasher apart, and giving it a deep clean, so that job is done.  Did you know your dishwasher has a filter, that needs cleaned about once a month?  I guess I forgot, but it's super-ity, duper-ity clean now.

Homemade "Jiffy" Corn Muffin Mix

 

The very popular "grocery" item during the holidays contains "bioengineered" ingredients. It's a new word for "gmo" (genetically modified) on so called food products now.

You can make this homemade.

Find the recipe for it HERE.

Refrigerator Rolls

 

This is the first year I did not make the rolls.  

These are very good, and I passed the recipe on to a grand niece.  She is made them this year, and forgot how many I told her they make ha ha!  They freeze pretty good too.  The recipe comes from another blog I follow.

Refrigerator Rolls Recipe.