March Ramblings

Wow, I cannot believe how warm it has been here.  My lilac tree has buds on it and the grass is starting to grow.  I fear for the trees and flowers when we inevitably end up having another snow storm.  Every year we've been here we've had a snow storm the end of April. We've had record highs this weekend with temps in the 60's and it was absolutely beautiful.

CAMPER UPDATE:

Matt brought the camper home this weekend to start working on it since the weather was so nice.  He went through and got all the junk that had been left in it out.  He pulled up the carpeting and got rid of that mess.  He then cleaned and repacked the tire bearings and checked the brakes, which are good thankfully.  He's going to have to rewire everything though.  He started tearing out the cabinets.  It's a good thing we planned a total tear out because the ceiling is rotted and water has gotten behind the walls and rotted it also. Nothing we weren't expecting though for a camper over 20 years old.

Our new remodeling adventure

water damage in back corner

Ugly orange shag carpet he pulled out

SPRING CLEAN: 

The warm weather has triggered my spring cleaning gene so this weekend I started on that major project.  I've been needing to get some cabinets in the kitchen cleaned out and sorted so I knocked two of the upper cabinets out and a large pantry cabinet that I store overflow and all the pet treats and food in.  I washed the shelves as I emptied them but did not wash the doors as I will do all the cabinets in the kitchen at the same time.  And yes I know I have an issue with Mason jars, Matt tells me all the time I need to get over using them for everything but they're awesome and so versatile.

Before 1

After 1

After 2

Before 2

I was hoping the can organizer I bought would be wider or expand.  I think once I get rid of some of the beans on that shelf I might put another one on that shelf for more soups.  I'll see how it works.  I'll be putting my home canned beans on the mudroom shelves with the rest of my canned goods so that will open a good portion of that shelf.

Before 3

After 3

I still have a bit more work on them but it's a definite improvement.  I have way too many jars of rice and need to use some of them up. I also found three half bags of noodles that I need to use.  I'm still not totally happy with these cabinets but I'll give it some time and figure out how to change up the organizers to make it more functional.

I still have two shelves of pet items but at this point I'm not sure how to reduce it.  I also want to get a container to put on the bottom to put the dog food in instead of leaving it in the bag. I'm also thinking of replacing these shelves with pullout ones to make it easier to find what's in that back. The back of this cabinet is like a black hole due to it being so deep.  I'd love to find those vertical pull outs to put in it so I could store more pantry items in it and be able to see what I have easier.  I did buy a couple metal baskets and put cat treats in one and dog treats in the other.  I took the organizer I had in cabinet 2 above and put it on the third shelf to organize the canned cat food so I don't have to pull out a bunch of stuff to get a can.  

CRAFTS:

I was able to work on my rug last weekend for about 90 minutes and have only about 8" left on it now. Hopefully this week since I have several nights off.  I need to cut some more strips of the brown to be able to continue and I measured and it will fit in the camper!

READING:  

I've been reading more of the Bromade Home books by Alison May.  I finished up The Winter Home and all the journal suggestions and have started The Spring Home.  I've also read The Slow Scrub - A 90 Day Journey to a Cleaner house, which is a way to do Spring or Seasonal Cleaning over 90 days instead of in one rush. It's great for those of us that work a lot and can't devote several days or an entire week to doing nothing but spring cleaning.  I'm currently printing The Seasonal Scrub for further Spring Cleaning ideas.  These are downloadable ebooks that are only found on her webpage.

                             

PETS:

I've been having issues with Oreo for quite some time now and with her whining so much.  I've been worried it was from pain but have come to the conclusion that it's probably boredom.  She only does it at night and it typically starts when we're eating.  I feel bad for her as she's losing what little eye sight she has left and she doesn't hear well either.  Life is rough being a 16 year old dog. Matt's been complaining a lot about it so I needed to do something.  For the last couple days I've been making up Kongs and giving all the dogs one when we eat supper. I need to remember to do them up and freeze them so they last longer but they've been keeping them busy for about an hour or more and it's stopped a lot of evening whining.  If this continues to work well I'm going to need to buy a lot more Kongs so I can rotate them in and out of the dishwasher to keep them clean. I'm crossing my fingers this continues to work.

December ramblings

It's going to be another extremely hectic month so my thoughts have been on how to de-stress meals this month. I'm scheduled to work five nights this week so my total working hours will be about 64, so simple is best. I'll definitely be ready for a week off at the end of the month. I haven't posted menus in a while so I thought I thought I'd post some of this weekends along with early next week's plans:

Saturday:
Fish & Chips - Matt had a hankering for this.

Sunday:
Mississippi Mud Roast with carrots and mashed potatoes - I worked from 12-4 today and Matt went with his buddy to Minnesota to pick up a race car so this worked perfectly.  I made the mashed potatoes after I got home and we had an early supper since we were both hungry.

Monday:
Pot Roast sandwiches from leftover roast and cole slaw

Tuesday:
Chef salad

Wednesday:
Own - Your - Own - I have to be in the office for the day so we'll eat on our own.

I was blog hopping the other night and found a fantastic blog "I  am That Lady"with frugal tips and menu planning.  She has several books out on freezer and dump meals using Aldi.  Unfortunately we don't have Aldi's here but her menus and recipes can be used with regular store products.  I bought two of her books and plan to try several of the recipes. The Slow Cooker Thai Chicken looks fabulous and will be making an appearance soon.




One of our neighbors gave Jordon a love seat so Saturday we ran down to Lisbon, ND, to drop it off.  Neither of us had been down in that area.  It's a long drive, about 90 minutes.  The freeway wasn't too bad but once we turned off that and headed south my first comment was "This looks a lot like Ohio." For those that have never driven through Ohio, it's not a good comment. It was just so flat and bare. Once we turned east again we came upon gorgeous rolling hills, which reminded me a lot of Pennsylvania. I'd love to see what it looks like snow covered although I probably wouldn't want to be driving if it were.  Then we came upon SHEEP! Lots and lots of sheep! Oh the pups would have been going nuts with excitement if they'd  been with us. Lacey would have probably have given herself a heart attack. Of course I didn't have my camera with.  They were smaller sheep then what' I'm use to seeing. I'd be curious to know what breed they were. We actually passed two farms with sheep and on the second one there were piles of dirt and probably compost scattered throughout the huge pen and on ever one there was a single sheep standing on the top like a king (or queen) sheep of the pile.  Made me chuckle they looked so cute.

Jordon and his girlfriend when she was pregnant bought up every Pooh Bear they could find in the area.  The bought one that was missing a sweater so Jordon naturally assumed mom would be more than happy to knit one for him.  Needless to say it's sat for quite a while as I had other projects that took precedence but I finally started it last week and finished it Friday night.  Here's Pooh with his new sweater.  I wasn't totally happy with it, but as it was the first time I'd made one I try not to be took picky about it. They were happy with it so I guess that's what was important.

Crafting, Reading and such....

FOOD PORN:
Matt has been playing with the smoker and made us an awesome BBQ brisket last weekend. We had my son and his girlfriend down with the baby. Jordon had helped Matt on Saturday move a bunch of things around in the shed and storage unit so this was his thank you meal. I can safely say he definitely enjoyed it. He had to cut the brisket in half to fit it in the smoker.

CRAFTING:

I started this rug about a month ago and haven't been able to finish it yet. I like the way it looks and lays. The plan is to get this finished this weekend. I used 4 sheets I picked up from the thrift stores. I really like the way they coordinate together. The dark pink definitely makes the rug pop as you can see from the top picture where I hadn't gotten to the next round of color yet and the second picture where I just added another row of the dark pink. If this finishes as nicely as I hope, it will be going up on my Etsy store. I may have enough fabric left over for a second one. It would be a perfect rug for a glamper or a little girl's room. I'm so excited, I finally have my business cards now.

While looking at the Jamestown Garage Sale page a couple weeks ago I noticed a hardwood desk listed for $25 that I was interested in as a possible sewing table. A couple days later they listed it for free so I had Matt go with me to pick it up. It's not in bad shape but old and it had some deep gouges on the top so I'm working on sanding it down now and I plan on staining it an antique walnut. The picture below is after the first sanding but you can see how deep some of the scratches and gouges go. Matt suggested I use an electric sander so I need to pick up some sandpaper for it this weekend and hopefully get this project done.

READING:

The Refuge by Sue Henry
This is a series of mysteries I've been reading by this author. This particular series is about an elderly widow who buys a motor home and goes on adventures with her dachshund, Stretch, which always seem to end up with a murder. The Refuge is actually the third book in the series and I've also read the two before this one. I really enjoy these. This book takes place in Hawaii and she had to leave her beloved dog behind to help someone from her town in Alaska where she resides when not adventuring.

Made From Scratch by Jenna Woginrich
I've read several of her books and this one had been on my want list for a while when I spotted it at Tractor Supply for $6 in the clearance section when picking up some cat food. It's a nice light read with some interesting ideas. Some I can't use like having chickens or rabbits right now. Some I can incorporate like learning to play another instrument or buying oil lamps and using them instead of electricity. Jenna went from corporate cube as a graphics designer to now running a farm. She has an interesting story.

The Plain Choice by Sherry Gore
Sherry Gore is an Amish Mennonite woman who writes Amish stories/romances. I've followed her for several years and my heart broke for her as her daughter grew sicker and died about six months ago. How she managed to finish writing this autobiography during that time is nothing but amazing. Sherry's story is unique, she didn't grow up Amish and she didn't live by the Amish. She grew up in California. Life wasn't easy for her. Her parents divorced, she ended up homeless, and then ended up married to an abusive husband. Her path to becoming Amish is very interesting to say the least.

His Baby Bond by Lee Tobin Mcclain
This was actually a Kindle freebee and was actually quite good. It centers around a rich brother who makes a sudden decision to come back and raise his brother's baby daughter after his brother and his wife die in an accident. The first problem he faces is that his sister-in-law's sister has been caring for the baby and has no desire to give the baby up. The second problem is that in their will the parents leave custody to both of them.

Hinduism Made Easy: Hindu Religion, Philosophy and Concepts by Shalu Sharma
My reading on Buddhism and watching a lot of Bollywood movies recently made me interested in Hinduism and what the difference between Buddhism and Hinduism was so I decided to do some reading on it also. Interestingly enough, they both developed from the same sacred books but then took different paths based on what they thought were the important books after that. The big different is that Buddhism consider themselves God's in training (of sorts) but Hindu's believe that there's a Supreme Being. It's pretty interesting if you like learning about different religions.

Weekend Ramblings August 16th

Menu:
Lunch: Italian on cibatta roll
Supper: Taco Salad with breadsticks

Wow has it been a busy summer! It doesn't feel like it's been that busy but I've been working on little things here and there and it adds up. I've also been in training at work which has added up time wise. Thankfully after the first week they let us train a half day in the office and then all the telecommuters were able to come home and work. Yesterday and today were super humid for North Dakota.  The low humidity here is something I really appreciate. I hear natives complain about how bad it is and can't help but laugh. Michigan's humidity was the worse of all the places I've ever lived and if they think this is bad they need to experience it elsewhere. Otherwise, our weather has been in the mid to low 80's with night temps in the 60's.

Today we had a nice storm pass through. It rained so heavily that the flash flood alarm went off on the TV and cell phones. I'm thankful that I took the pups for a walk before the storm hit. Matt wanted to go to the store and every time he thought it was starting to slow down it would start pouring again.

Water was so deep in the road that it went up over the sidewalk into the yard.  There's a drop down from the step to the road.  Water was up to the bottom of the rims on both our vehicles.

This was totally flooded over for a bit when it was raining the hardest. 

Unfortunately water was going under the skirting on the trailer.

This pitcher was empty before it started raining.

Crafting:

I finished the rug!!!! It was a great feeling when I finished it. I already have the loom warped and another rug started. For my fall project I've started a knitted sample stitch afghan with super bulky yarn.  I wanted something nice and warm to curl up in when it gets cold.

About a month ago we went to a Junk Expo and Matt found a spinning wheel for me. We picked up this beauty for only $75.  I'm not sure what brand it is. I think it might be a Jenny by Sleeping Beauty, which is no long manufactured.  She was dirty and I could tell she'd been sitting in a barn or shed somewhere.  I cleaned her up last week (finally) and hopefully will get her waxed this weekend.  I bought a maintenance kit and she got a tune up after her cleaning.  She's missing a dowel that the brake cord attaches to so Matt is going to fix that but otherwise she appears to be in full working condition. Now I just need to order some roving. The Lazy Kate that she came with is about $75 brand new so I think we got a pretty good deal.

Reading:

I've done a ton of reading.  My latest read was The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club by Wanda Brunstetter. I lucked out and got a Wish List fulfilled notice from PaperBackBookExchange.com letting me know that both it and the sequel had been posted. I will be starting the sequel, The Tattered Quilt, tonight. I find the books interesting in they talk about quilting and these take place close to where I grew up in Indiana. One of these days I'm going to visit Shipshawana.  It brought back memories when one of the characters talked about going shopping at the mall in South Bend, which is the mall we use to go to all the time. I miss the Amish restaurants that serve family style.

Gardening:

My tomato plants have started producing.  The poor plants have been stunted by this odd summer we've had and never got much above 2 feet tall and the fruit is small too.  My Roma tomatoes are like giant grape tomato size. I was getting ready to harvest my peppermint after moving it by the tomato plants when something ate it.  I'm wondering if it wasn't a bunny as I can't think of anything else that would eat it.

Weekend Ramblings April 13

SUNDAY MENUS:

Brunch:    Oven fried potatoes, bacon, eggs, and toast

Supper:  Homemade pizza

We cannot wait until Menard's builds a store here.  It is horrible not having a home improvement store for supplies.  Matt had gone to Fargo with a buddy Thursday and picked up all the flooring and a roll of underlayment for the hallway and guest room.  We had some items leftover from when he did his office.  When he went to put the underlayment down this morning he discovered he was one length short.  He went to 5 stores locally and nobody had what we needed.  Our choices were to drive 200 miles round trip for one roll of underlayment, buy something in town that's different but "might" work, or order online.  Thankfully Menard's has online ordering so that's what we went with.  Shipping was less than what we'd have paid for gas. Unfortunately they're saying approximately 10 days before we get it.  On a good note, other than that snafu, he was able to get the entire hallway done including door stops and just over half of the guest room.  I am so happy to be getting the carpeting out of here. 

While he was working this morning I made us a huge country style brunch of oven fried potatoes with plenty of onions, crispy bacon, eggs over easy and buttery toast.  He needed a good meal for the work he wanted to get done.  We shared a Butter Beer he'd picked up at the party store last night when he took a break.  Those of you that are Harry Potter fans will have heard of Butter Beer before.  It taste sort of like cream soda, Matt described it as butterscotchy in flavor.  It's good but I don't think good enough to pay $2 a bottle for it. It's a novelty item and I might buy some to send the kids for gifts.

My early morning was spent cleaning and doing laundry.  In the afternoon I continued my work on my cross stitch project and watched The Bletchley Circle on Netflix as well as helping Matt whenever he needed my assistance.  It was a 3 part Masterpiece Theatre drama about a group of women that had worked as code breakers during the war and gather back together to find a killer.  They were living ordinary lives while keeping the work they'd done during the war a secret when one of them starts noticing patterns to a series of killings.  I highly recommend it if you like British dramas or period pieces.