Poppy Garden

Today I wanted to share with  you some photo's of my friends garden.  She is known for her beautiful Poppy garden.  It is in the middle of her circle drive.  It is not unusual for people to stop and take photo's while they are in bloom.  I really enjoy watching the butterflies and bee's flying around from flower to flower.  It is such a breathtaking display!

This is another fun shot through  the window inside to the garden.

Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend :)

Garden Tour

I have been so busy this spring and now early summer.  Some day's feel like a complete whirlwind and others I just sit and try and absorb the quiet and catch my breath.  For anyone that has the idea that life slows down when your children get older because they are able to do more on their own.... that is very far from the truth, at least in this house.  We have a teenager, and a preteen and life just gets busier and busier.  We enjoy each and every day and spend lots of time together as a family but it is very intertwined with things to do. I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate and feel so blessed to be able to stay home with my dd's and be here for my family.  Though I initially thought I would be able to slow down time by being here for every moment.. it couldn't be further from the truth!  It goes so fast, but I am able to have beautiful memories of all that we do.  I often wish to remember each and every  moment and vow at times to not forget certain heart melting moments, but like everyone else.  If it wasn't for my camera to help me jog the memories, I think sadly with so much going on I couldn't remember as much.  As this summer unfolds I have been taking photo's of the little places tucked away in our yard.  We had severe rains this May and were not able to get into our garden for the final tilling to plant a vegetable garden.   It is so wet that even a small rain still creates an impromptu pond in our yard.  So I have taken to enjoying what I do have which is my beautiful flowers.  I thought I would take you on a small tour of my back yard spots.  I love watching my garden change over time it is such a joy to remember when a planting was first put into the ground and how it has changed over time.

This is Jasmine. My friend was putting in a new driveway and I was able to dig up several clumps and plant two on either side of my clothesline poles.  Before they started growing very much, my dh graciously wired up some cattle panel to my clothes line poles extending up past the tops of the posts to give them plenty of room to climb up and over the poles.  I see this type of Jasmine growing and sometimes covering some ditches here.  I really like that they first bloom in bright white, then the blooms fade to a pretty butter yellow color.  I planted this last fall and it was hot outside so it took a while to really root in but has taken well to where it is and I am excited to watch as it grows.

 This is a humble little strawberry garden.  My dad and I went to a few garage sales in another town and my youngest dd saw this old bed frame without rails and wanted to make a "flower bed" with it.  We thought it was a great idea so we bought it for her.  That was five years ago!  We had been focusing so much time on interior renovations we didn't have much time to devote to exterior projects until this spring.  The rains were on the way so we planted strawberries around the edges of her little garden and when the soil dries out enough she can choose what she would like to plant in the interior.  We have all enjoyed picking fresh strawberries this spring.

 This 1950's beach comber bike was actually purchased for me by my husband to ride.  However, it has only one gear and is extremely heavy and difficult for me to try and ride.  Maybe after some serious strength conditioning I will change my mind :) It does however look lovely in the garden with the basket chalked full of petunia's.  I absolutely love seeing it out the kitchen window and when I am outside, I know I get more joy from it being in the garden than riding it :)

River Trip #1 2013

I hope by now, everyone has had a chance to go visit the DTE forum.  It is a truly wonderful place and I would love to visit with you over there as well as here :)

Eventually I will have a moment to catch up on all that we have been doing in our lives, but for now I will just pick up where we are at the moment.

One of my favorite things to do in the summer is go to the river.  I made a goal to myself to go at least four times this summer.  I don't know if I will be able to but I would like to and our first trip down was early enough in the summer we still have plenty of time to go again... that being said, we were invited to go by some friends that are sponsors for an exchange program for students.  We went on one of the first beautiful clear days since all the storms and floated down the river while also doing a community service project for the exchange program of clearing the water way on the way down.  We splashed and played and stopped and picked up trash along the way.  Then we played some more and kept floating down the river.  It was a lot of fun!!! We picked up a lot of trash and half a set of tires! It was a good experience and I'm thankful we went. We couldn't have started the summer off any better!

Down To Earth Forums

I want to give a shout out today to a place that is near and dear to me.  Many of you are aware of a wonderful forum that I belong to called Down to Earth.  There is a button just to the right on my side bar that is a link to this wonderful place.  It is like a second home for many of us there.  I have been so blessed  to make so many wonderful friends through the exchange of sharing simple living idea's.  There are so many simple, solid, tried and true solutions for any challenge you might be facing in your simple living lifestyle.  Whether you live in town and are planting your very first vegetable seeds or you live on a farm and are planting acre's of corn or herding sheep.  If you are picking up your first pot and pan, or you are a gourmet chef, you will find not only helpful solutions but kind words, understanding and compassionate people just like yourself striving to help each other on this journey of life.  No curiosity or question is too small or too silly.  The amazing thing about the forum and what makes it such a treasure is that no matter what you are going through or wondering about, or is next on your list to learn, someone, somewhere on the forum has experience with what will be your next journey!  I find that so amazingly refreshing.  I know there is a helping hand if I so choose to reach for it to help me along the way.  In return I love helping others when they reach our for help too.  Most of all, as I progress on my journey I am so thankful to have this amazing place, such wonderful friendships and kind wisdom to make my path an easier one. 

I want to extend an invitation to drop by the forum, stay for a little while or as long as you like, I have to warn you most of us never want to leave :)  Yes, its that wonderful.  I am there most days, along with a whole team of amazing moderators and administrators who donate their time and work very hard to ensure that the forum runs smoothly for the good of everyone.  There is a link below to the forum, most days you can find me there, drop in and say hello I would love to see you there too :)

Clean the Microwave and make Tea too!

First, I would like to say a warm thank you for all of your heartfelt and kind comments regarding my post yesterday.  I appreciate your gentle words of encouragement.  Keeping life and the foods we eat in balance is key and the gentle reminders and encouragement when I felt such deep frustration where very touching to me.  Thank you sincerely to each and every one of you. 

Today was a rainy day, one of my favorite days!  I have a weird quirk in that when it is raining I love to clean.  I like a very tidy house anyway, but maybe it's the threat of loosing power or something but I have a nesting instinct that kicks in like crazy and I happily clean lol   After doing some housework, I resumed some garden plans, which led to thinking about spring and one of my favorite beverages, iced tea.  I try to avoid soda as much as possible for a variety of reasons and prefer unsweetened iced tea.  I am still careful to drink plenty of water as tea can be dehydrating.

 As I went about preparing to boil my water for tea in the microwave, I was also thinking that it (the microwave) needed a good scrub.  A light bulb  moment occurred.  The process for cleaning the microwave is no different than boiling my water except I add tea bags after it is boiled.  I filled my large four cup measuring glass with water, microwaved it for three minutes, removed it, placed in my tea bags to steep and while the tea was steeping proceeded to wipe out the freshly steamed microwave.  I added the water to the tea pitcher and poured myself a freshly brewed glass of iced tea, and enjoyed looking at my clean microwave.  In essentially the time it took to make tea I had a clean microwave. Ahhh :)

( I will insert pictures later when blogger has this up and running soon :)

Restrictions Lifted

Before we decided to try changing our eating habits, I was humming along quite well.  I really felt like things (home making) were going quite well and I was very happy.  I was learning and exploring new territories in my baking and cooking skills and excited about trying new things.  After watching a wonderful documentary we decided to change our cooking.  Yes, this seems quite simple.  We cut out meat, eggs, dairy, salt, sugar.  We previously only used whole grains as much as possible but really tried to eat only whole foods.  This entailed traveling extensively to another city to a health food market as our local food stores did not carry what we were seeking.  The cost was outrageous to purchase the products and after spending hours preparing meals I felt sad because I wasn't enjoying the flavor. Some recipes were quite good, but many just felt like they were missing something.  Do not get me wrong.  I have never felt in my life like we have eaten healthier than we did, but our whole family was not enjoying what I was spending long hours preparing.  After much debate I have decided to return to our traditional way of cooking, incorporating a few wonderful lessons learned.  It is possible to cook with much less butter and fat.  There are wonderful sweeteners that are healthy and sweet is appreciated when used sparingly.  Vegetables are delicious and there are many ways to prepare them without using butter in every dish.  All is not lost, in fact much has been gained.  I have learned some new skills, and learned what works for our family and what does  not.  Mostly, I am rejoicing in being able to resume exploring and learning new skills in the kitchen.  I feel like my restrictions have been lifted.  It has been such a set back that I even asked a co-moderator to step in for me, and she graciously accepted writing a segment to appear on the forum later that has to  do with baking.  It was a skill I had eagerly looked forward to writing about and learning more about before writing.  Now I look forward to learning from her writing as I start spreading my wings again and finding my way around the kitchen.

At the moment in all honestly I just feel sad.  Seriously?  Yes!  I absolutely love preparing delicious meals for my family and when you spend most of your day preparing food for your family that nobody enjoys that feels horrible.  They were very respectful and grateful to have these meals, but I could tell they were being polite and myself included did not enjoy them.  Today I plan on spending time menu planning, constructing a shopping list, and planning what I will make for dinner.  As I type even that last sentence I feel uplifted in my soul!  Food is such an important part of our lives and our home.  It's part of our culture and our memories, our time when spent gathering involves food and drink, our gardens are centered on providing delicious healthy foods for our home.  It is important and should be enjoyed.  So the restrictions are lifted, and I am looking forward to cooking again.  They key here is looking forward, that is something I have not felt like doing for a while in the kitchen.  I can feel the joy for cooking returning and it feels good.  Wishing everyone, no matter what your eating style joy in the kitchen :)

Busy like a Bee

While things here on my blog have been a little quiet lately, I have been quite busy here at home.  Spring is in full force and simply stunning.

These are Phlox.  They are in our front flower bed and so pretty.  They won't bloom like this all summer so I enjoy them as much as possible while they are in bloom.  I love how they cascade over the garden wall.
Along with the beautiful flowers of spring, the grass also starts growing in leaps and bounds, not just the grass mind you, the weeds as well.  In fact I think an honest ratio of what is growing in our
"yard" is about 90% weeds and 10% grass.  However it covers the soil and makes a place to play so it works.  It's rapid growth called for a replacement of our lawn tractor.  We make things last as long as we can at our house and this tractor was worked on and gimped along for the past six summers.  We purchased it used to start with and it finally died.  The replacement is wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed mowing this past week and welcomed a nice trimmed up lawn.  I love things to be neat and tidy and the yard is no exception.

This is another view of the front flower beds with the Phlox.  I do not know what the other plant is at the bottom of this shot.  A friend gave them to me and I planted them along the wall and they have responded really well.  It is such a joy for me to be outside and working in the yard.  Our garden is almost ready to plant.  My DH tilled it up again and we spread fertilizer and were blessed with rain this week.  When it dries out we will till once more time and begin planting the starts and seeds we have.

One of my favorite places in our yard is the front flower bed and the small water fountain.  I love to watch the transformation of a bare winter garden and the bright green lush vegetation of perennials waking up and spreading out over the garden.  Slowly the bare garden is transformed and before you know it there are blooms and beauty all around to enjoy as we come and go past this garden.  What a joy :)

Boston Tragedy

Tragedy has struck American soil again.  A bombing at the Boston Marathon has stunned those here in the U.S. and around the globe as the news has spread.  My heart aches for those affected directly in Boston and my prayers are with them as they sort everything out.  The details are still coming in and the reports of fatalities and injuries have been different through the afternoon.  As I keep checking in all I can think of is how senseless and unexplainable and sad....

Lighting a candle in memory of those lost, those fighting for their lives, and those who's lives will be forever changed because of this tragedy.   You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Reminiscing

Tonight as I spent some time tidying up my sewing room after returning home from my quilting beehive, I was thinking about quilt camp and reminiscing.  I have been so busy since returning home that I feel I have barely had time to catch my breath!  I remembered that I took some pictures that I wanted to share with you.  This is my favorite of all that I took while I was gone.

I cannot properly convey the feeling of calm and peace when I am here.  We had an early snow storm hit and I wondered outside to enjoy the scenery and capture some special pictures of the place we have all enjoyed for so many years.  I am so thankful that we are able to come here and spend time.  It is my reprieve from the hustle and bustle of life.  From the moment I leave the city on that last stretch of highway through the rolling hills, I am at ease and I can feel myself relax in anticipation of the quiet and solitude of our surroundings.  Well as much quiet as can be expected while sharing a lodge full of quilting friends :)

The Essence of Spring

I know I should get over the spring flowers and post something else.... but I just love the freshness and beauty of it all!  I love capturing what makes spring so beautiful to me.  In a world that can give us so many reasons to feel down, it's uplifting to look around and find joy in so many things.  It just makes my heart so happy!!!

This is a close up of what I call Crocus.  I might have the wrong name for this but, it is what I know it as.  My sweet DD brought this to me while I was outside.  I never get over the feeling of awwww when my girls bring me flowers.  So sweet and kind.

Our sweet little chicks playing hide and seek in the ivy.  They spent quite a bit of time hiding and taking a dust bath in the small bit of dirt there.  They started in the yard and found the ivy later on.  This was their first visit outside.  They really enjoyed it.  I enjoyed watching them.  I will be sad to see them go to the farm, but no matter how much I look, sadly I don't think country life is in our future.

This beautiful daffodil chose to grow between the patio and the patio pavers.  It bloomed where it was planted!  A lesson I try and follow.

I could have first cleaned this stone, but then I realized this is so realistic of real life.  Despite our blemishes and spots we love each other unconditionally and that is so beautiful.  The most important thing in my life, what I live for is my family and I am so blessed.

Enjoy your day and the beauty around you whatever season you are in :)

Frolicking Fun

As I drove the country roads home this evening, I stopped to enjoy several frolicking new calves running around playing a game of chase. 

When I snapped a picture of this one, another that had been previously chasing came trotting up and posed as well.

I love stopping and enjoying life around me as often as I can.  Even more so when my DD's are with me to take a moment to enjoy things as well.  My youngest DD and her friend eeewed and aawed at the calves, then the mommy, can we get one? started lol.  It is so refreshing and makes me feel relaxed watching these little guys.  It always puts a smile on my face :)

Stroll Around the Lake

On Easter we made our way to our little local lake and took a stroll.  We had so much fun exploring as a family.  We ended last year in a drought and have not yet  completely caught up on our low water levels.  The lake is down by several feet and we had the chance to explore territory  we had never seen.  Huge beds of empty clam shells were exposed.  Thousands and thousands in some areas.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and the sun was warm.  We had the lake to ourselves and thoroughly enjoyed it.  My DH taught the girls how to skip rocks on the smooth surface of the water.  In many places along the shore there are many layers of broken up Sandstone.  The pieces make perfect stones for skipping rocks.

 I even discovered my first Dandelion of the season! It was happy and sunny and beautiful.  I had to capture it.  I am always elated to discover the first one of the season.  Sometimes they are blooming before the Daffodils are!  Daffodils are my favorite spring flower because they are so cheerful and to me it is a sure bet that though sometimes cold outside, there is hope for spring once again!

 As I strolled around snapping photo's of my family and the beautiful world around me I of course had to capture my favorite, a beautiful water stained tree.  As you can see by the white section on the tree, this is the normal range of the water level in the lake.  The water is well below this level. 

Before leaving, I was able to capture the abundant blooming of the small fairy flowers.  They are a light purple color and so dainty, I can just imagine a parade of fairy's waiting for them to come into bloom so they can decorate with them for a party :)

I am so thankful that we were able to go to the lake and enjoy the afternoon.  Time spent together is a treasure!

City Chicks Meet Country Chicks

These sweet little chicks are a new addition to our home.  Sadly the little black one didn't make it.  She was just too little and had I realized she was struggling when we picked them out I would not have brought her home.  She was VERY small.  I did learn, though cute small is not always a good idea when we are dealing with chicks.  I had to feed her a mixture of food she was so small she would not even peck at the food or drink.  She might have been sick too. I am just not sure.

The orange and yellow chicks however are thankfully thriving and chirping sweetly.  They are inside out of the cold damp weather we have been having, under the warmth of a heat lamp and doing very well.  In the very small town we live in, we are not allowed by city ordinance to have chickens in our yard, so when these little ones are grown they will go to our friends farm to live as happy little free range chickens.  We purchased a rabbit hutch for them so they would be safe from the longing gaze of our inside cats.  Since we cannot have chickens in town and they are so small they are inside with us until they are big enough to go to the farm.  I have no idea if or when we will ever find a home in the country so I have let the girls have chicks now twice here.  I think it is important for them to experience and learn how to take care of them.  If I waited, I think sadly they would miss out on the opportunity to learn. 

I am sure the chicks look like a delicious snack to the cats so I wanted a strong cage that if  the curious cats jumped on, they would still be very safe and, have a cage that is easy to clean.   However now, the cats love to lay by the cage and take naps by the chickens enjoying the warmth of their heat lamp as well!  The chickens go to the edge of the cage and nap.  The cats do not have their claws in front so they are not in danger to them.  We have learned to listen to their peeping and chirping and can tell when they are not happy.  My youngest dd runs to see what is upsetting them.  They are held and cuddled gently and will be wonderful sweet hens..unless we have a rooster! lol  I do believe they are the most spoiled little chicks ever :)

~Wishing everyone a Happy Easter~

King Size Quilt

I hope everyone has been doing well in my absence from my blog.  I have truly missed blogging.  I have been away exploring our lovely state, and upon my return repacked for a long weekend away at our twice yearly quilt camp.  I treasure the time with my wonderful quilting  friends and enjoy watching the projects come together over the course of the weekend.  We have some amazingly talented quilters in our group and I am so thankful for the knowledge that we share with each other that allows us to improve and grow in our quilting.

This past weekend I was able to machine quilt a very large king size quilt I made for our bed.  It has taken several years to construct and is finally now quilted.  When I found the fabric I fell in love with the black floral pattern, only to discover it was a pattern from the previous year.  For those that are not familiar with fabric, the fabric company usually runs a sample, gathers sales, and makes one run at the fabric mill.  When that is done, they start the next year's print sample and run and so on.  Very rarely unless they have a heavy requests for a second run do they actually make a second run.  So I had the challenge for several years of purchasing any fabrics that were in this fabric line and enough to make the quilt for our bed.  Slowly over a period of about four or five years I purchased enough to start making the quilt.  I finished piecing the top at a previous quilt camp a couple of years ago but because of  it's huge size 122"x122" it would not fit on a quilt frame to be machine quilted.  I did not care because I initially planned to hand quilt it.  The only request from my DH was that the quilt drape to the floor or close to it.  How could I not honor the only request from  him????  Thus, the large size.  After two years being folded in my sewing room, and even being gifted with a quilting frame for hand sewing I decided to quilt it on my PFAFF.  I wanted to enjoy it in THIS lifetime!!!  I have never undertook such a large quilting project on my machine...or ever for that matter.  However, though it was incredibly heavy and at times difficult to fit in the throat of the machine.  I persevered and got it quilted and bound while at camp this past weekend.  I could not wait to get home and wash it and put it on the bed.  DH and I really like it and now I am on to my next quilting project :)

This is the backing, batting and top all laid out ready to pin baste.

Here the quilt is done being pin basted.  I took a short break and gave my knees a break about half way through.  For a quilt this large pinning on the floor was the only option to keep it straight with no puckers.

Here it is!!!!  While at camp we had a snowstorm come in .  My dear friend helped me hang the quilt and was actually hiding behind it on the balcony to straighten it when the wind blew the corner up!  If you look closely you can see snowflakes.  Brrrrr It was VERY cold outside and I knew I would never pack this quilt up and bring it back with me to take pictures once I got it on our bed so it was now or never.  Thank you Pam!!!

As I get time I will fill you in on my recent journeys.  It takes me a while to settle back into my routine once I return home :)

St. Patrick's Day Wall Hanging

At last I have finished the wall hanging that I have been working on for St. Patrick's Day!  I have been working every spare moment on it and was concerned that I wouldn't get it finished and it would be set aside if I didn't finish it in time until next year at this time!  I'm only being honest :)

 

Grandmother's Garden wall hanging in green for St Patrick's Day.  Hand pieced and hand quilted.   The border and binding were attached by machine and bound by hand.  I have sore fingers to prove it! lol

This is what the whole little vignette looks like by the back door :)

I am entertaining thoughts of another little wall hanging for Easter.....  I would eventually like to make one for each of the holiday's or seasons through the year and have a few idea's that have caught my eye!

Out and About

Today's post is short and sweet...I had the chance to go with a friend and get some needed supplies and organization tools.  I am very excited about getting some things in my scrapbook area organized to make it a more efficient space to work in.  I was also able to invest in a new tool that I have contemplated purchasing for a long time.  I am very excited about it, and will be used to towards a recycling project of sorts!  You'll have to wait to see what I have up my sleeve! :)

And for Dinner? Veg Pizza!

Veg Pizza for Dinner!

Several days ago when I wrote It Happens in Three's, I mentioned that our meat defrosting was a different story.  The rest of that story is this...

Two weeks ago we implemented a decision to make a permanent dietary change in our household.  We have several reasons, but the main reason was our health both in the now, and our health in the future.  We previously ate a typical American diet, I cooked most of our meals at home, but these meals were rich in carbohydrates and loaded with cheese and fats.  A staple ingredient in a lot of my cooking was butter.  I was cutting down on the butter usage, but had learned a long time ago it was better to use butter than a synthetic butter in baking.  I made fresh bread almost daily, and though we enjoyed vegetables and fruits, I do not feel like we ate as much of them as we should.  We also enjoyed the occasional meal out about once a week sometimes less, and delicious fresh baked treats.  We used a lot of flour, sugar, butter, and dairy.  I really felt that we needed to eat healthier.  Yes most of our foods were made from scratch and made at home, but I felt like it could be a lot more healthy.  My family balked at the thought of it!  We like rich, delicious food!!!

I started learning about baking with whole wheat flour, and substituting things like applesauce for butter or sugar in the recipes.  It wasn't well received the lack of sugar or butter part.  However, watching a documentary one day about eating a plant based diet really resonated with me.  I discussed it with my husband who watched the documentary with me again, and he agreed that it was a good idea for the health of our family.  We decided though it would be difficult, we would probably have a mutiny from the children, we would change our diet and adhere as closely as we could to a plant based diet, this involved eliminating dairy and meats..... yikes!  We had just packed our meat order into our deep freeze about two weeks previous to this lol.  We decided that we would eat meat on occasion, just not in our every day meals.  We donated all the food in our pantry that did not follow our new dietary plan so we wouldn't be tempted as this is a hard switch, and replaced it with only whole grains and healthy foods.  We were already eating whole grain bread and using whole grain pasta, but now we were watching the amount of salt and sugar that was in our pasta and any other product.  That was a little over two weeks ago and we are still going strong.  When the meat defrosted a bit my husband joked that it was a good thing we just went vegan!  A part truth but still a nice comic relief in the situation.  We do eat basically a vegan diet which is a plant based diet during the times we aren't eating meat.  We have eliminated as much salt and sugar from our diet as possible as well.  Previously I made meat based meals several times a week but we also had several non meat meals as well.  When I did cook with meat I used it sparingly.  It has been quite a transition but we are making it and most importantly we are seeing a steady improvement in how we feel.  I have much more energy for one and that is worth a lot!  I am slowly but surely feeling better and not so sluggish.  A very welcome change.  Yes, we are both loosing some weight but the real benefit is our health.  If I changed my diet for the loosing weight benefit I think I would be disappointed.  I would most likely have stopped eating a "vegan" diet and went back to our old diet style.  However, it is the way my body has improved and the feeling of health that we both have that has kept us going full steam ahead.  This positive feeling along with slow and steady moderate weight loss due to a healthier diet has been a bonus.  I am so thankful that we changed our diet!

I am not going to go into the fine details of why we transitioned, why we decided to give up meat and dairy in our day to day meals, and all the benefits of our diet change, but if you would like to know more or watch the documentary that helped us decide to change, all the science and information about our dietary change, I highly recommend the documentary I watched called Fork over Knife.  It is available on Netflix for those that have this program.  There is also a book and cookbook by the same name.  So now you know the story about the meat in the freezer :)

Weekend Celebration

This past weekend my Mom was able to come down and visit to celebrate my Birthday.  It was a belated birthday visit as we had a major snow storm in the state the previous weekend and neither of us felt it was a good idea to venture down.  What a wonderful weekend we had.  She was able to spend a couple of days with  us and we had a great time.  My mom, my daughters, and I all visited and laughed and quilted and crafted all weekend.  We had a lot of fun!

When DH arrived home he brought strawberries for me so I could make this delicious dessert that I wanted to make for my birthday instead of a cake.  The recipe can be found here.It was really good!!!

Mom brought a couple of lovely gifts for my birthday, and one of them was this adorable kitchen towel set.

She said when she saw it, it reminded her of me, and my efforts both here on my blog, and what all of us at the Down to Earth forum are working toward.  What a very thoughtful and practical gift!  I am very blessed to have such  thoughtful friends and family, especially my loving parents!  Happy Monday :)

It Happens in Three's

Today in the kitchen my oldest dd and I were going to prepare a veg burger.  We had the toaster plugged in for toasting the bun, and when she plugged in the indoor grill the outlet sparked a small spark.  When she told me I made a mental note to tell my DH.  When we opened the package for the veg burgers they were very cold but not frozen!!!  She had just retrieved them from the deep freeze where we have a new order of beef frozen, or was frozen?!?!  Upon investigation the steaks are thawed but the rest is still thankfully frozen but a large portion will need to be eaten asap.  A frozen prepared pizza that was given to us was in the top of the freezer that was thawed so I popped it in the oven for my youngest dd and her friend.  About half way through my oldest dd and I heard a loud "pop" sound... my favorite baking stone had cracked!

Seriously?????  Around here we always say that bad things happen in three's.  So I guess we got them all out of the way but goodness!  Thankfully, I have a second baking stone so no worry there and no need to buy a replacement.  We discovered that while we were working on some electrical work a breaker accidentally got left off that was turned off for safety. DH will investigate to make sure the outlet doesn't need replaced.  At least all issues were easily remedied.  The meat is a different story......

It Arrived.... the Beautiful Snow

I really had my doubts, we had been predicted to get snow early in the morning for two days.  Admittedly after the second morning of idle predictions I decided if it came, it came.  Yesterday's weather of rainy sleet-ish mix in the evening gave me a suspicion that the storm was really on it's way this time... and it was.  Ohhh it was beautiful.  I wish I had captured the first glimpse.  My daughter a late night owl like myself couldn't sleep and peeked out the window in the wee hours of the morning.  She came to ask if I had looked outside, for the next several hours we camped in front of the windows watching the gorgeous snow fall in the quiet stillness of the night.  We debated on the cancellation of school, laughed together, chatted about this and that, and she even indulged in a walk to the mailbox under my protective eye as an excuse to enjoy the magic of the falling snow with no one about.  It was quiet, and beautiful and much brighter than she expected it to be outside. As the snow piled up my least concern was school in the early hours of morning.  There were no road graders out to clear the snow yet, and there was a fair amount.  School was going to be out I was most certain.  We went to bed and the call for cancellation came a few hrs. later.  We all slept in.

When my youngest dd woke me,  the fun began.  Both girls dashed outside to enjoy the first "real" snow of the year.  The kind of snow I was used to getting as a girl, the kind perfect for making forts and snow balls, structures of whatever the mind could imagine to build and fantastic snowmen! Here we get one good wet snow if we are lucky, typically we see a bit more ice than snow.  This was the perfect snow for all of it!!!

First they requested Snow Ice Cream.... This sneaky Mama asked Dad to bring the cream and eggs home when he returned from work early this morning so the ingredients would be ready :)  They had made mention of making their favorite snow treat "if" it really snowed.  They brought me a large bowl of good clean snow...

I gathered the ingredients and began mixing...2 eggs beaten, 2 c. cream, 1 c. sugar all mixed together.  I set the mixture aside until they returned from playing outside in the snow when we would add the freshly gathered snow now in a bowl on the porch waiting.

 

I love the snow accumulated on the branches of the trees.

My favorite view in the winter.  Looking out over the field from the window at the beautiful pristine freshly fallen snow!

The girls had a blast making a snow lady with red hair like Mama they said :)

When they returned inside we added the clean snow to the cream mixture and they enjoyed delicious Snow Cream.  They mentioned making large amounts while we have snow to last a few months lol

Many trips in and out were made to play in the snow.  While there was a new snow lady being created in the back yard I made Vegan "meatloaf", mashed potatoes, and green beans for dinner.  It was delicious!

Now we have an assortment of gloves, hats, and scarves drying on the clothes wrack.  Puddles of water gathered by the doors and wet boots lined up.  Frozen Snow Cream in the freezer and many fun memories and pictures, all evidence of a fun filled snow day.  What a treasured day :)

Waiting for Another Storm

When I went out on an errand today I was mindful of what I might need for the rest of the week.  We are expecting another winter storm, this time snow.  We have had rain all day long and some mild field flooding and full ditches around our area.  Nothing major as the storm ditches are more than equipped to handle the rain we have received.  I am so thankful for our farmers and ranchers that we have gotten the rain we have.  It is filling up the ponds that were empty and many dry from our drought.  The winter wheat is looking nice and green and will be a good crop.  I love watching the fields and their changes as I drive to and from town.  There are not as many tree's here as I am used to where I grew up, but it is still a beautiful country here.

As I listen to the sound of sleet and rain mix on the windows I have been working a little while on my miniature Grandmothers' Garden wall hanging.  I am hoping to finish it in time to hang up for St. Patrick's Day.

 As I post this I now understand where my missing thimble has gone.  I use an old ice cream container for my small pieces for this wall hanging.  I put my thimble and thread in there as well.  

Our little cat Tinee just jumped up and starting fishing out both the thimble and thread successfully from the tub flicking them out onto the counter top surface!  For all I know she could have carried my lost thimble off somewhere in the house lol  I guess I won't be surprised when it turns up in a strange place :)

Ice Storm 2013

The ice storm the weather forecasters predicted arrived!  It started late last night or early morning with sleet, thunder and light winds.  It stopped sleeting mid morning and I thought it was finished... but now it is snowing lightly.  The girls just came in from playing outside.  They had immense fun de-icing everything and exploring the shapes of the ice that they removed from objects outside.  Then watching them break and crunch :) The first two pictures I took this morning, they took all day to finally go through to my email box.  I imagine things are a bit crammed right now since this storm is several states wide.  What looks like snow in these two picture are actually all ice piled up!  North of us they are getting snow on top of all this ice. 

Our summer swing iced over.

Trees glazed with heavy ice.

Ice  in the trees and a beautiful vapor from the  ground mixing together.

View of the ice looking down our street.

View from above of an ice bowl my daughter brought inside for me to see.

Side view of the ice bowl

We have power, and I have a hearty Lentil Soup simmering on the stove top right now so we are all set.  Wishing everyone affected by this storm a warm safe day. :)

Fabric Softener VS. Vinegar

For as long as I can remember I have used diluted fabric softener.  I even have a post here showing an easy way to dilute it down and it still work well.  I had a question in that post that I have finally been able to answer.  I wondered if I was using my own home made laundry soap instead of commercial laundry soap, and started using vinegar as my fabric softener if my clothes would be softer.  The answer to that is yes!  When I was using commercial laundry soap and vinegar, I still had trouble with my clothes being soft.  When I switched to making all of my own laundry soap and continued to use commercial softener I had absorption problems with towels and our clothes were not very soft.  When I used home made laundry soap AND used vinegar again my clothes after being washed a few times became very soft.  I know there is a lot of wax in both  the commercial soap and the fabric softeners and this needs to be washed out a couple of times before I could feel the results.

This is a decanter that I used to keep my fabric softener in, beside it I kept my laundry soap.  When I finished using the fabric softener in the decanter I was going to fill it with vinegar but the spout cracked when I was re-assembling it together.  I snapped this photo to show just how much wax is in fabric softeners.  I was having a noticeable problem with absorbency in my kitchen towels and decided that I would eliminate softeners in our laundry when this fabric softener was gone.  After a few washes my towels have an increased absorbency, our clothes are much softer and there is minimal static in the laundry which is not bad considering it is winter here.  The clothes do not have a vinegar odor to them at all.  I put undiluted vinegar in the softener spot in the drawer for my front loader and have had no problems because the vinegar is flushed out with water as the machine is filling for a rinse cycle.  It eliminates any problems I had previously when using a softener ball in the laundry that would leave a vinegar smell because it was not being released at the correct time.

Winter Beautiful Winter

The world came to a pause the other day, when the most gorgeous white fluffy flakes descended upon us.

I am not a fan of the cold weather, but for this I turned my chair and watched out the window as I would a favorite movie on the television.  My youngest DD and I sat and talked and enjoyed the gorgeous winter storm.  As the Crocus and surprise Lillie's are trying to make their way forward, our first "real" snow was falling.  Nature truly is the greatest mystery of all.