From One Friend to Another

May 25th, my mom's friend brought her this beautiful red white and blue bouquet... a sweet token of friendship.

Upcycling or Recycling Which Is It?

Some time back I saw a couple of projects made out of old sweaters, and I thought WOW. That person is so creative. I loved the sweater pillows. But I really loved the cable knit bag made from a vintage sweater.

Today I found an entire website devoted to projects made from recycled wool and cashmere. Resweater. I think I am inspired! Inspired I say!!

Upcycled or recycled I don't know the difference. I do know I'm all for reusing things and keeping them out of the land fill. Even sweaters.

Coffee on the Front Porch

As I rolled out of bed this morning I noticed something different about my world. A couple of things were different. Not bad. Just different. My digital photo frame was on and in slideshow mode. That is a good sign the power was out in the night. Oh but it was a great sign to see the frame in slideshow mode... this meant the power was back on!! But the biggest thing that was different in my world was sunshine streaming in the bedroom window. SUNSHINE!!

I made a quick cup of coffee and headed right outside to my front porch to enjoy the beauty of the morning and get a few rays of that rare commodity in my neck of the woods.

Well, this photo of my coffee mug on the front porch rail reminds me of two things I need to add to my current to-do list. I need to switch out all of the Christmas mugs and when that is done and it is a nice warm sunny day, I need to tackle the big job of painting the front porch. Our winter weather has been harsh to the old wood porch rail.

So this is something on my list of 101 things... coffee on the porch as often as I possibly can. I was thrilled to be able to start off my 1001 days in such a positive way... coffee on the front porch! ♥

It has been a beautiful day in the neighborhood! I was so very pleasantly surprised to have some sunshine on this blustery day. Yes. I said blustery. My wind chimes have been music to my ears all day long. We have big pine tree branches out in the middle of our parking area.... far far away from the big pine trees. Blustery. But in the midst of it all we have little moments of sunshine! It warms my soul...

101 Goals

I'm not sure where I first read about the 101 in 1001 days, but I came across it some time ago. I'm just now getting around to making my own list and setting a goal date. I'm going to start tomorrow February 22, 2012 and my goal finish date is November 19, 2014. That gives me 1001 days to complete my list.

I am excited! I have nearly 3 years to complete the things on my list of 101 in 1001 Days. Some of my goals are lofty for me. Not so exciting as some of the lists I read about like doing a zip line in the Congo or traveling to 7 Continents. I don't even want to leave the country! But I do want to take a couple of road trips!

I want to take a photography class. It is something I've thought about for a few years. I figure if I write it down and set a goal with a completion date, I will no doubt get it done. It's my time.

Snowed In

We are basically snowed in. The roads are icy and it continues to snow. The schools closed early today and will be closed tomorrow. We are warm, cozy, and about to snuggle in with hot chocolate and a good movie.

I was browsing through the Amazon movies earlier and found The Blind Side at a great price. I already have The Blind Side on DVD. It's a touching movie, worth watching over and over. At $3.99 it will make a great gift at a great price.

Thought I'd share. I'm off to watch my movie with my children.

Snow Day

We woke up yesterday to snow falling and a skiff of snow on the ground. It snowed all morning and it was so beautiful as everything turned winter white. It warmed up a little and most of the snow in the driveway was melted when we went to bed.

Imagine my joy when I woke up to snow this morning!

Over The River

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I am sure my childhood memories of a wonderful weekend with family has something to do with how I feel about the holiday.

Every other year, we piled into the car and headed over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house. It was actually over the wintery, snow covered mountain pass... It was picture perfect in my mind. When we arrived at Grandma's house, we were greeted with hugs and kisses from the grandparents, and at least a couple of aunts and uncles, and a housefull of cousins.

My grandparents house was not fancy, but it was filled with love. There were 2 big rooms, one was the dine-in kitchen with a wood cook stove. The other big room was the living room with the pot belly stove in the corner. She had 1 tiny bathroom, 3 bedrooms, and a big, back porch room with the old fashioned wringer washing machine, and plenty of space to hang clothes to dry in the winter.

My grandma loved to bake, and she went into over drive when she knew we were coming in for the weekend. She prepared every kind of pie you can imagine. As soon as the car was unloaded we gathered around the old fashion kitchen table for cold fried chicken, potato salad, and at least a dozen pies. Grandma's fried chicken was the best... even cold it was super yummy. My family bought Grandma a new electric stove, but she always cooked on the wood stove. I was convinced her chicken was the best because of that old wood cook stove.

When the family all came home for the holidays, the house was brimming with love, laughter, and people. Us kids slept on the floor. It was like one big slumber party with girls whispering and giggling in the living room while the boys were snoring in the kitchen.

Bright and early in the morning we would wake up to Grandma singing southern gospel in the kitchen...

Everyone pitched in to help prepare for the dinner. The table was extended with a couple of fold away tables with plywood on top and covered by a tablecloth. It was centered in the middle of the kitchen. Chairs were brought in from the storage building, so everyone could sit around the table. Grandma's every day dishes were the gold lusterware. I always thought it was such a pretty table.

Our traditional dinner was fairly basic. Roast turkey, and duck, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, potatoes, green beans, salad, olives, and cranberries. We had ice tea, and the adults had coffee. Grandpa or one of my uncles offered up a prayer of Thanksgiving and then we spent a couple hours around the table visiting, and sharing stories of long ago...

I cherish my memories of simple holidays... it really was about family and giving Thanks to our Lord.

Cute Holiday Projects

It's late in the season, but I still want to make a few projects this year. I found a super easy tutorial for sweater socks. They are adorable! I love the big chipboard monogram she made to go with the socks. I think I can manage to whip out a few of these before it's time to deck the halls.

Long Break Is Over

I have missed writing! I've been using facebook to keep up with family and friends, but I really missed getting in here and writing and catching up with my blog friends.

I laugh at myself as I sit here trying to figure out what I want to say. Before I logged in, I was back in the pantry looking at all those canned foods, and for some reason, I had this wild thought... I want to write. I have a million thoughts. About canned food? Noooo. Stuff. Life. Chickens and coyotes. Bears. Star filled night skies. Cowboys and horses. Life in the country. My poor pitiful garden. I have so much to say!
So I came in here, logged in. It took me awhile to remember how to get into my blog here... really. Maybe the distraction of figuring it all out has given me a writers block.

I will get this figured out... I see I need to make a few updates to the website. But I really do have so much to say!

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Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap Recipes

I'm truly interested in making my own laundry soap, so I did some more research online. I found a detailed recipe with more information about the ingredients, consistency, and cleaning results from the homemade laundry soap.

My washing machine is a front loading high effeciency machine, and the website goes into more detail about using the laundry soap in an HE machine. For the informative page I found go here: Making Homemade Laundry Soap by Crystal Miller.

Duggar Family Laundry Soap Recipe

I just love watching the Duggar family. In case you aren't familiar with the Duggar family, they have a their own television series on the discovery channel. They are the large real life family with 18 children (nineteen children, now that their son Josh is married). I accidentally came across their family recipe page and found a recipe for laundry soap. I can't wait to try it out. The recipe for Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap - Front or top load machines is located here: Duggar Family Recipes It's super inexpensive for a batch and for the front load washing machines, one recipe makes enough for more than 600 loads of laundry! That's a lot of laundry.

Easy Home Baked Bread GMA Recipe

I have been thinking about baking bread, but I don't look forward to kneading it. So this morning, when I watched Good Morning America's segment featuring a no knead bread dough, I was excited to see there are easy methods to baking bread at home.

I wanted to save the link for future reference and figure other people might be interested in learning to bake bread too. Save Money Bake Bread At Home - No Knead Bread Dough Recipe

I am excited to try this! I'm sure it's fabulous, since it's a recipe from Chef Sara Moulton, but I'll write a review later. If any of my readers have tried this recipe, or have another one, please post a comment with your review. Thanks!

The Countdown Begins - 2 Months

This is a very generalized check list of things to do before moving day.

8 Weeks Out

• Start a file box of all important papers and receipts pertaining to the move.





• Purchase packing supplies.





• Decide what to keep and what to toss.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • Start sorting stuff - sell, garage sale, 2nd hand store, another family member, or trash





• If I'm having a yard sale make plans for it.





• Start packing up stuff we are keeping, but don't need. It can be stored in a storage unit.





• Start making a list of contacts to notify of a change of address - as my mail comes in, make a note, so I don't forget anyone.

We have already rented a storage unit and packed a few boxes of things I am keeping. I don't intend to have a storage unit after we move. So if this stuff doesn't fit into my new home, it's going into a yard sale or I'll sell it on ebay. But the storage unit seemed like an easy solution to help me start clearing out the house.

I just found some moving plan check lists online. Here are a few helpful pages:

• Two men and a Truck Plan Your Move





• American Moving and Storage Association





• ehow How to Plan a Move

My checklist will be changing as I go along. For now, I feel like I have a starting point.

Planning Our Move

The good thing about our move is we are only moving from the country to a small town. The bad thing about our move... oh let me tell ya, I have a list of bad things about our move, so we won't go there today.

I will tell you this, we've lived in our house for nearly 30 years. We have a lot of stuff. Tons and tons of stuff. I don't know what to do with it all. I've been sorting to get rid of the stuff, but as I've said before, it's really hard to toss everything.

Considering we haven't moved in 30 years, I have no idea where to start. I feel like I'm running around in circles doing dozens of things I know need done, yet nothing is prioritized. Seriously it feels like complete chaos right now. Things are getting done, but nothing is getting done. I know. I confuse myself too.

Anyway, I'm trying to get on with things here. I have just over two months to move. I figure the best thing I can do now is write out a plan.

Two months to move, last month I had 3 months to move and it felt like I had all the time in the world to get things done. Now I'm feeling the pressure. It feels like I am out of time to get things done. I've got to get a hold on my time... a plan is the way to go.

That's it. That's the key to my sanity right now... my plan.

Lazy Afternoon With Family

I can remember walking into Grandma's old country farmhouse when I was a little girl. Grandma would be working in the kitchen, something was always baking or fresh out of the oven, so her home smelled warm and inviting. There was usually a puzzle in progress spread out on the kitchen table. It's a lovely memory... my family sitting around the table, talking, laughing, and putting the puzzle together one piece at a time. It was the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon.

My mom recently found this beautiful box of puzzles. Three puzzles in one box. I especially love working on pretty puzzles like this. The magnifying glass with the metal rim is an old family heirloom. It adds to the sentimental feeling I get when I am with my family, working on puzzles.

Since my uncle passed away, my elderly aunt has taken up putting puzzles together to fill her lonely hours. About twice a week my mom and my other aunts all gather around her dining table to spend an afternoon chatting and working on puzzles. They've already put together a couple of beautiful picture puzzles.

Every once in awhile I get to join them for a wonderful afternoon. Sitting around putting together puzzles, sipping tea, chatting, and laughing on a lazy summer afternoon.

I tell ya, life is good.

Glimmer Mist Scrapbooking Technique to Try

One of my many hobbies is scrapbooking and card making. I just found a technique, created by Elizabeth Hicks, I have to try. Glimmer Glaze. I love anything sparkly, glittery, shimmery... glimmery. Glimmer glaze looks like it will be simply beautiful for some of my holiday cards and pages. I can't wait to try this new technique.

We are Moving - Downsizing by More Than Half

The past couple months have been crazy around here. We are moving out of our old country home after living here for 28 years! When I first found out we would be moving, I was devastated. Excited. But devastated, none the less.

We raised our six children in this big old country home. We have a lot of memories here, needless to say.

My honey bunch bought this place before we were even dating. He was in his teens, graduated from high school, but going to college, and working full time. He didn't really want to buy a home, but his dad advised him to spend his money wisely. Invest in real estate, rather than throw money down the drain with rent.

Problem is, we are moving from a big home to a much smaller space. I have been trying to sort and get rid of stuff. I figure I need to get rid of at least 50% of the stuff we own, so it fits in our new home. I'm extremely sentimental so how do I decide which of my cherished possessions I should get rid of?

This process hasn't been fun so far. I think it is going to get harder as time goes by.

We will be moving out by October, and I haven't really tossed a thing. I guess I need to get myself into gear, or this is going to be much more stressful than it needs to be.

Summertime Homekeeping Blues

I'm having a hard time keeping up with my home this summer.

Yeah... I got the blues.

Simply put, I don't want to wash the dishes.

Oh yeah. I got the blues.

I would rather be hanging out at the beach with the kids.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got the blues.

Tomorrow is a major catch up day

I really got the blues.

Because I don't want to come home from the beach to a dumpy house.

I got the blues.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got the Housekeeing blues.

Amish Friendship Bread

The other day I was at my daughter-in-law's home. She had little plastic bags of dough on her table, and a couple of loaves of freshly baked bread on the bread board. 

This is not normal bread dough, it's more like batter. It's called Amish Friendship Bread. The loaves of bread aren't like sandwich bread. This is a dessert bread.

The idea behind Amish friendship bread is much like the yeast starter that is passed around from homemaker to homemaker. 

Of course, I now have my own batch of starter.  Oh wait. No! It's been several days since I first received my baggy of dough. Now I have several batches of starter to pass out to my friends! That stuff grows in Ziploc bags right there on my kitchen counter. While the loaves are baking, the house smells amazing.

My Amish bread batter came with directions to make Amish friendship bread. You can find the copy I have on this website: Amish Friendship Starter Dough. The instructions are simple and very easy to follow along day by day.