Weather Updates ~ Crock Pot Dinner ~ From the Handiwork Journal

We all got up 15 minutes late on Thursday morning.  Yikes.  Daughter forgot her school book too.  I guess sleeping in a bit isn't a bad thing, but she can't miss the bus either.  Weather-wise it was just cold.  Nothing major... snow started about 11am (way before predicted). It's a warm 33°F this morning.

Snow is not always bad thing, unless we have wind.  That's the kicker in what we'll be doing.  You can't very much shovel until the storm is over either in that case.

They are now saying Sat-Mon will be the worst storm in 2 years.  

(dehydrated organic mushrooms)

The crock pot wins again - Chicken Lombardy.  I didn't have Marsala cooking wine, so I substituted the best I could with dry white wine and a splash of brandy.  So glad I dehydrated mushrooms.  It made making dinner so easy.  I just had to whip up some pasta to serve it on.


I also pulled some of those holiday dinner rolls out of the freezer.  It was a test run on how well they would taste after freezing the.

The results?  They tasted pretty good.  They were very soft.

. . . from the handiwork journal

Embellished paper clips

Heart Dishcloths

Heart cup/mug coasters

Heart Doilies

Heart key fobs (these were made last year).  I posted these, to remind myself to make more, as some have sold.

. . . almost ready for a spring craft show.  More to get restocked.

So, if you made it through my long post today, I have a confession.  I bought a cone of what I thought was 100% cotton yarn.  Sigh.  It's not.  Premier yarn is part polyester.  What projects would this be good for?  I had plans to make pot holder sets with it, and it's not 100% cotton.  I do not like Premier yarn either.  Oye.  I wonder if I could just use it for rugs.  That may be the case, unless you all have a better idea.  I can't send it back, because I already crocheted a piece to start, what I thought would be a set of pot holders.  I could tell by the feel that it was not 100% cotton yarn.  I need to read labels better.

Hunkered In ~ from the handiwork journal

School closed yesterday, so I hunkered down and enjoyed the time.  I put the last touches on the "f" bombs, "swiped" the bathroom sinks, swept, and a few last bits of laundry.

Started new projects too - 

Heart cup coasters - two more to make in blueberry.

Heart bookmarks. My goal is to get several made in different colors.

Sunflower dishcloths.  I think these would be nice using various colors in the center rounds.

I've got a lot more going, so I'll  be back to share.  The weather forecast is being watched a few times a day here lately.  Apparently, now we are to get a blast of bone-chilling temperatures after the snow hits, and it could be as low as -20°F.  We are preparing for it the best we can.

Weather Predictions ~ Lets Talk Generators

The forecast here is predicting 5-8 inches of snow and high winds (blizzard conditions), that will start on Thursday and continue into Monday. First, they said 3 inches or so, and to watch the weather forecast daily.  School has a 2 hour delay this morning - freezing rain.

To be honest, it's not bothering me other than I needed to make a run for stocking up for basics, and once again I have no wheels.  The ignition in "Big Red" went bad and there is no time to fix it (right now anyway).  Add that to Youngest needing to borrow my car to get to musical practice in the evenings....limited availability.

I'm starting to feel like a damn hermit.  If this weather hits us as predicted, I'll be a hermit all weekend and into next week.  But hey, I might get a book read this winter, ha ha!

I'm sure I'll be finishing many unfinished projects too, maybe even get my utility room cleaned up.  Who knows.  I may be doing a netflix binge in my PJ's and crafting.  That actually sounds good too.

Out in the boonies, we have to prepare for power outages in the winter when the winds kick up too.  Or if car accidents put out a power pole.  Large containers of water are filled and in both bathrooms.  Just as a precaution.  Water jugs filled in magnitude.  Just preparing in case.  If power goes out, we have no water (well pump is run on electricity).  Chickens need water, dogs and cats need water, and we need water.  No way am I going without coffee in the morning either.  Here is the reason I'd like a cook stove that runs on wood, but I just don't have room.  However, we can wrap potatoes in foil and cook them in our wood stove.  There is always PB  and J too.  We have lots of jams and jellies stocked up.

We also have a portable phone charger.  It's great for traveling, but great to have on hand in a storm too.

I love crock pot days - steel cut oats with apples, raisins and walnuts.  Mmm!  Breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Spanish rice cooking away - all organic ingredients and my home canned tomato sauce.  We will have carnitas with the leftover Spanish rice tonight.

I focused on all jobs requiring electricity like vacuuming the carpet, running the dishwasher, washing clothes, etc.  Just in case.

I want to get "generator" crossed off my "wish list" this year.  Any suggestions?  I would greatly appreciate them.  Hubby wants to invest in one that kicks on automatically if the power goes off ($4,000 or so).

Homemade Vanilla Mint Honey Scrub ~

...on the to-do list 

Got the scrub made.   Recipe is on Mountain Rose Herbs blog.  I'm going to make another batch with sugar, for my youngest now.  It smells so good and feels great on my skin.

I finished a few more color options for the headbands.  They are posted on my farm store blogspot now.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.  I can't believe I got through the holiday season without baking one pie.  I picked this photo today to inspire me to bake one this week or over the weekend.

We got 2 inches of snow Saturday night.  Sunday it was frigid. The wind was wicked and cold.  We ran out of cut/split wood Sunday morning, and it's not the first.  We got that job done ASAP and of course, Hubby was mumbling under his breath about not being better prepared (happens more often than not, ha ha!).  Another snow storm is heading our way this coming Saturday too.


On the breakfast plate . . .
Leftover blueberry pancakes


The weather outside . . .
23°F, and the wind has died down today.


Right now I am . . .
Getting the fire going again.  Some ding dong left the top damper open and it burned completely out last night.


Thinking . . .
I better get Youngest up in a bit.  They had a two hour delay due to the drifting yesterday, and some roads still need more plowing.


On my reading pile . . .
My youngest and I were just talking about this yesterday.  Both of us haven't been reading much of anything lately.


On the TV . . .
The Ranch (can't remember what episode we are on)


On the menu . . .
A crock pot week other than tuna and noodle, mashed potatoes and green beans
-Steel cut oats (breakfast)
-Spanish rice
-4 beans and sausage
-potato corn chowder and biscuits or homemade bread
-red beans and rice
-chili


On my to-do list . . .
-work out
-laundry
-dishes
-sweep
-vacuum
-tidy up the living room



What I am creating . . .

"F" bombs  - a lot of them for an order


New recipe I want to try. . . 
A homemade skin scrub. A lot of cooking recipes too.


Looking around the house . . .
Looks like my kitchen could use a tidy up job too.


On the camera . . .

I haven't taken any photos since our trip.

On my prayer list . . .
The kids.  I have some news on one of them, but can't share it just yet.  And no, no one is pregnant (thank goodness).  The other news is that our nephew and his wife are selling their trailer and buying a house.  It's a grand deal, but two kids can't afford to buy it until May, so we are hoping it does not sell until then. Otherwise the deal is off for them.  I hope it works out, but at the price it's selling, it may get sold before they can buy it (due to their lease at their apt).

Keeping Warm ~ Weekend Updates

There's nothing exciting going on at our homestead right now.  I've been puttering around with the basics - laundry, house cleaning, organizing, putting away forgotten Christmas stuff, paying bills, etc. etc.

Oh, I have a list of things that need made, but my mojo is at a bottom low.  I blame it on the cold, cold temps we have.  It sort of sucks the energy out of you like a very humid hot day would.  

Friday I spent more time on the slow side of chores. However, our 19 year-old had a complete melt down and Mom and Dad had to go to the "rescue."  First, she's already seeing how hard it is to live on her own as an adult, and they are now approaching possible new living arrangements (living with her brother), which is throwing a lot of stress at her.  On her way out, her fuel line broke, and she had the dogs with her (her two).  She called crying and wanting her Mom and Dad. She has just put her last $25 into a tank of gas and that was the kicker for her melt down.  Of course we told her we'd refill it for her, after it was repaired.

She borrowed a car and made it out.  I listened.  I fed her good food (she lives way to close to fast food in town), gave her the "it's gonna be okay" speech, Dad called her while she was here and reassured her we'd be over to fix the car, and she calmed down.  She said, "when things go wrong I just want my Mom and Dad (ha ha!)."  Meanwhile I crocheted and listened until she was okay.

I slipped into PJ's early, poured myself a glass of wine, and watched Judge Judy while I crocheted more (my favorite slowdown routine when it's quiet in the house and there are leftovers).

Saturday we were naturally up at 5am.  Hubby cooked breakfast and we of course had to wait for our 19 year-old to get out of bed to head to her place.  By 9am, it was still only 26°F outside, and cloudy.

We drove up to fix Daughter's car, picked up groceries and came back home with about 2-3 hours to spare.  Hubby arranged a night out with a poker game, Youngest went to visit her boyfriend, and I stayed home and crocheted.  

The snow rolled in and boy it was cold and the road not that great.  Didn't see or hear a snow plow until wee hours in the morning.

This morning?  Or today?  I have no idea.  All depends on anything that pops up to interrupt our plans.  Since we spent most of the day fixing Daughter's (19 year-old) car, we didn't get wood split prior to the snow arriving.  Hubby and daughter had my car all night, and never got home until almost 2am.  I was furious.  The roads were terrible, and I received a message they were on the way at 8:30pm.  By 11:40pm I was calling.  Here it took Youngest to drive 1 1/2 hours to pick Hubby up, when it should have taken about 30 minutes or so.   So here I am, up at 5am stoking the fire, while those two are sound asleep.  I'm tempted to bang a lot of pots and pans right now.

Normalcy

We've hit the 20's here lately, and dipping into the teens at night.  The cold can really get to you, but I'm taking advantage of it with indoor jobs etc.

Now that the house is getting back to normal, I can get back to the kitchen.

Garlic powder and granulated garlic was made.  Just one more way to preserve my garlic without a root cellar (basement or proper storage area).  I then use these to make homemade spice/herb mixes, including homemade seasoned salt.

Strained another tincture.  

Found a quick fix for the coop door that leads out to the outside ramp.  It'll go on the inside, so both sides are secured.  I'm without "wheels" again (Big Red just needs replaced in my opinion), so it was work with what I had.  There has been no animal sightings whatsoever.  Hubby feels that the idiots in the woods (most likely illegal hunters) were the cause, but we still don't know.

I still had one daughter's dog (Mia) yesterday.   She is getting homemade food.  Her Mom didn't leave me enough of her dry dog food, so her belly is happy.  She was picked up last night.

I've been trying to squeeze in crochet time to work on the 11 "f" bombs.  I have 7 more to make.  In the midst, I'm getting some plans in motion for Christmas gifts for next Christmas.  Thank goodness for my notebook.