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.

FEBRUARY RAMBLINGS

I can hardly believe that February is almost over already.  It doesn't even feel like we really had a winter it's been so mild here.  Back home in Indiana they're getting hit with storms dropping a foot or more of snow on them and all we've been getting are flakes. Another winter has gone and I still haven't gotten to try my snowshoes out.  

Big changes are in the air!  We bought an older camper that we're going to be redoing this spring.  I am so excited and we're chomping at the bit to be able to start working on it. We'd initially thought to only repair the back bedroom area that had water damage but now we're thinking we'll pull the walls and ceiling out and redo them to make sure the electrical is okay and to put good insulation in.  I'm pretty set on a lodge/cabin feel for the inside but as it's only about 19' long I don't want to make it too dark inside so it feels cave like.  Pictures will be posted as we start working. I'm hoping we can finally visit Teddy Roosevelt National Park this fall. We'll be going to Minnesota possibly in August and will be taking the camper with.  

Another big event is I'm starting a pet sitting service.  There's nothing like it here in town.  The kennel that was in town closed and the one vet that now does boarding from what I hear is constantly booked.  My objective is to offer people the ability to allow their pets to stay at home while they're gone and I will come in a set amount of times per day to feed, walk, etc... the pets.  So I'm crossing my fingers and I'll see how this works out.  I'm in the process of getting my business license, LLC, bonding, etc.. before I start putting out fliers. At this point I'm thinking part time but some are telling me they think I could take it full time if I chose.  That would be a huge decision though.  Small steps right now and I'll just focus on getting the business up and going for now.

Jordon and the grandbaby were here last weekend.  He's trying to crawl now so we had to make sure to keep the floor clear.  He got himself from one side of the living room to the other after Lacey.  He grabbed a huge handful of her tail fur. She was a good sport about it and just laid there while we pried his fingers off.  Needless to say the rest of the weekend the dogs stayed clear of the little fellow. We took the kids up to Jonny B's for pizza since they hadn't been to the new pizza joint in town. There pizza is baked in a brick fire oven and is so good!  The kids liked it too.  Jordon's not a big drinker and so we had him try a flight of the different beers they carry (22 types on tap).  He liked the pear cider that I like and there was one beer that he enjoyed.  It's a good way to try different varieties without buying full size glasses.

ESSENTIAL OILS:

Office Diffuser: I've been using the following combination the past two days and I'm in love with it. The scent gives a warm feeling to a room. My office diffuser calls for 5 drops but the Orange EO decided it called for another drop.

2 drops Clove EO
1 drop Idaho Balsam Fir EO
1 drop Cardamon EO
2 drops Orange EO

Bedroom Diffuser:  This is my recipe for nearly every night that diffuses while I'm sleeping.  It helps me breath and sleep better.  Matt noticed we were both sleeping better when I started using the diffuser in the bedroom. Matt says my snoring isn't as bad either.  Bedroom diffuser can take 12 drops.

9 to 10 drops Eucalyptus EO
2 to 3 drops Lavender EO

CRAFTS:

I've started a new rug in my loom.  I'm hoping it will fit in front of the kitchen area in the camper. I'm using leftover strips from my first crocheted rug so the colors are chocolate brown, tan, dark green, moss green and two prints. I'm loving the new easel that Matt bought me for Christmas.  It's a hard wood one and is so awesome.  Here's a picture with my twining loom. The adjustability is awesome.  If I want to sit I can adjust it down or if I want to stand I can move it up.

I've also managed to finish one sock and I'm working on the top portion of the second one.  I managed to knock most of the first one out while recovering from surgery the end of December. Matt's sister sent him a Care Package that he received today and inside were two skeins of sock yarn for me!!!! Bee is awesome and also a fellow sock knitter.  

READING:

I found an awesome website called Brocante Home.  I liked it so much I signed up and paid for access to her private website as well. Before I signed up on the site I bought The Vintage Housekeeper's Circle by Alison May on Amazon for my Kindle.  I think it was $2.99, so very affordable.  Unfortunately her books on her website are much more expensive so I'm glad the membership allows me to read them without buying them.  I've also read her Winter and Spring books off the website.  These seasonal books are neat in that they give ideas on how to pamper oneself, things to use or add to the home, recipes for sprays, scrubs, etc.. reading suggestions and journaling ideas.

 I

I've been somewhat on a prepper/housekeeping theme lately. I bought a hardcover of Little House Living and paperback of The Made from Scratch Life.  Both books have a lot of information on cooking and preparing foods such as mixes to use instead of store bought.  I highly recommend both books.  If you like Little House on the Prairie books you'll probably like Little House Living as she tries to model her housekeeping on Laura and her family.  It's made me want to reread the series again. If you Get The Made from Scratch Life there's a webpage that you can put your order confirmation number in and she gives you some freebees that are pretty neat as well. 

In addition to reading I've been watching a lot of Youtube videos, which is rare for me.  I've never been big on Youtube for some reason.  I've found Linda's Pantry which I'm watching constantly of late.  She cans, cooks and has dogs so you can see why I like her.  Watching her videos got me wanting to can so I broke out my pressure cooker and did 16 pints of refried beans since I was out of them.  Linda's Pantry has a Facebook page now also, so you can check her out there as well. She mentioned she might start blogging in the last video I watched so I'll be excited to see when she starts that.

November 29, 2015 Ramblings

Fall decoration on top of one of our speakers

It's hard to believe November is nearly over already.  Time seems to be speeding way to fast lately. I did manage to get some fall decorations out for the month. We've had lots of projects we've been working on this month. It seems like our paychecks could just be sent directly to Menard's as often as we're there. We found some awesome deals there on Black Friday.  I almost never go shopping on Black Friday but we decided to brave it this year as Menard's deals were so good. I bought a couple Christmas presents too. We've gotten very spoiled living in a small town.  I think there were maybe 4 or 5 people ahead of us in line and we were complaining about having to wait so long. It's hard to remember the lines we use to have to stand in while living in Metro Detroit on a normal shopping day and during the holidays there seemed to be miles of lines.

Menu from Teresa's Cozy Corner Facebook page

Matt and I had Thanksgiving alone this year as Jordon went to his girlfriend's mom's house for the day. He said they'd come on the weekend and requested (okay nearly demanded) that I make the whole Thanksgiving turkey meal for him. He apparently was missing mom's cooking. I thought I'd made a ton of mashed potatoes but we ran out and he was complaining he didn't have enough. We had them over again this morning for breakfast. Matt had tried a baked caramel french toast recipe when he was hunting a couple weeks ago and had gotten the recipe so I made that and bacon this morning. Needless to say there were no leftovers, not even for the furkids.

As I mentioned, Matt went hunting a couple weekends ago and got a deer!!! I have venison in the freezer finally,  not as much as I would like but I can't complain. I have venison recipes dancing in my head while I try to figure out how I want to use the meat. Matt plans on using some of it for jerky but that will be a project for next month.

View from my work window to my neighbor's messy deck with a light covering of snow

We've had snow a couple times so far this month but nothing that accumulated or stayed. The most we received was a light dusting.  We've had some beautiful snowflakes though that I enjoy watching while I'm working as you can see from the picture above. I use to want snow on my birthday (November 21st) and on Thanksgiving as a child.  I rarely ever got my wish but this year there were snowflakes dancing in the air when I got up on my birthday.  I was as excited as a kid when I saw them.

padding down and starting to lay the flooring

flooring connected to the hallway that we did previously

Completed floor from Matt's phone

Our big project this month was removing the carpeting and putting down the wood laminate flooring in my office area.  My office is a huge open area between the dining room and living room. Matt pulled up the carpeting and put down all the matting one day and then got all the flooring in the next day.  He did an awesome job on it. We didn't add the base boards as we'll be replace the ceilings and walls with drywall next year and will do the moldings then. After Matt was done with the flooring I did a deep clean on the room, washing the walls and everything, before putting everything back in. Only 2 more rooms to re-floor and I think those can wait a bit.

November is the month I pick for my Mary Jane's Farm tea exchange every year.  I picked two Tazo teas this year and made fall leaf coasters in three different colors. I fell in love with the pattern when I saw it and thought it fit with my fall theme. Everybody liked them. One woman said her kids took them and threw them up in the air and let them fall down, like they were playing with real leaves.

I finally have the desk done. I need to do the door on it and I think I'm going to put a shelf in that area. It was originally a computer tower compartment but I'm thinking I'll put a shelf in it since I'm using it for my sewing desk. I used a mahogany stain and the color in the pictures doesn't do justice to the beautiful color it came out. I'm very pleased with out this project turned out. The top came out so nice and I was able to get all the scratches off. This is the solid wood desk that I picked up curbside for free.

My scarecrows showing off my rug for me

My last project of the month and I should finish it later today is a twined rug.  I warped it and started it a couple weeks ago. Since then I haven't had a chance to work on it so this week I've been working on it a bit each day.  This was made with recycled flannel sheets. One set was a solid blue and the other was a cream color with a floral pattern. You can't see the floral pattern at all, just bits of color. It should be nice and cozy on the feet for winter. I have about 4 inches left to do before I take it off the loom. I may keep this one although I'm not sure where I'll put it. 

WEEKEND RAMBLINGS SEPTEMBER 19-20, 2015

It has been a busy couple weeks for me. I've had to be in the office several times in the past couple weeks for training and I've been picking up some extra hours at Walmart. With the vet bills being so high lately I need some extra income. In addition, Mendards finally opened here in Jamestown!  I'm so excited. I hadn't been over to check it out as the crowds have been insane so Matt took me over Saturday for my first look. The place is HUGE. They built this one to be the Midwest hub and therefore it's the largest one in the Midwest now. Menards being open is another reason for needing extra income. We can finally start some of the renovations on the house that need to be done. We picked up an ice maker installation kit and a new water filter for the fridge. We've had repeated problems with the ice maker not working. Whoever installed it kinked the copper line so Matt's replacing that and the filter was due to be replaced. It's so nice to have some place we can buy the supplies now when we need them instead of having to order them online or drive 100 miles to get them. Next will be new flooring in my office area!

PETS:

Tip and Lacey

Tip has actually been doing well and is stabilizing out from the phenobarbital. He has an occasional wobble of the hind legs but otherwise has been doing well. No seizures thankfully. Because the medication makes him hungry, we have to be careful when leaving the house that nothing is within reach that he can get. He's pulled cast iron skillets off the stove while we've been gone to lick them. The idiot pulled a bag I left on the counter down and tried to eat a grow pod for cilantro I'd bought to replant. Nothing is safe so it's like kid proofing the house again, except it's furkid proofing.

Oreo hanging out with me at my work desk

I nearly lost my beloved Oreo last weekend to a GI infection. I initially thought it might be cardiac failure as she was wheezing a bit. She will be 16 years old next month so as much as I hated the thought of losing her, I can't deny it's not going to occur at some point. She stopped eating last Friday. I tried everything I could think to get her to eat something. I even went to McDonald's and bought some french fries and she turned her head away from them she was so sick. Last Saturday she wouldn't even come out of the bedroom. I'd worked all day last Saturday so didn't realize her condition until I got home that night. She did show more interest Sunday and came out of the bedroom but still wouldn't eat. I honestly didn't think she'd make it but she's resilient and after the vet gave her an anti-nausea shot and some medications along with a special food for intestinal issues on Monday she's make a nice recovery and is begging to eat to make up for those days she didn't.

CRAFTING:

back of desk before sanding

I started sanding the desk this weekend and got the first coat of stain on most of the desk before I ran out of stain. I had so much stain left over from my table and chair project that Matt and I figured a small can would be more than enough. I'll be making a run to Menards today to buy a larger can and plan on finishing the area that I didn't get to last night and then hopefully do a second coat later tonight after doing a light sanding. I had originally bought an antique walnut stain to use because my selections were so limited at Walmart but after seeing a picture on Pinterest of someone's redo of a table using mahogany stain I decided to go mahogany instead. Matt wasn't too sure about the mahogany until he saw the rich color after the first application and he really likes it.  It's such a nice rich, warm color. Pretty much my entire day Sunday was spend sanding the desk down. I used an electric sander for the first time and boy did my arms and wrist feel it that night. Thank goodness for Motrin.

I finally finished the Amish Toothbrush Rug!!!  I was so excited to finish it.  The shape isn't quite perfect, but it was my first one. It ended up being 37" by 33" in size. I need to take a picture of this on the wood flooring so it will pop more as the colors appear faded in this picture. I'm very happy with this rug. I crocheted a scalloped edging in the dark pink to finish it off, which is hard to see in the photo. It would be a great rug for a baby's room or little girl's room. I'd hoped to have enough fabric to do a second one but nearly ran out of some of the colors while doing it.

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 NOVEMBER 23

Part of my fall decorations in my living room

Update: I have fixed the last post.  I'm not sure what happened with part of it to make it unreadable but I played with a couple things and the portion that was unreadable can now be seen.  It's not perfect but it's readable.

It's been busy here.  The last couple days have been beautifully sunny and temps have ranged in the upper 30's, downright balmy.  I noticed this morning the dusting of snow we'd had has totally melted. Temps otherwise have been ranging from teens to low 30's with frequent windchill readings below zero, which makes it cold to walk the furkids.  It was really cold one night when I was walking the pups and a guy getting out of his truck said he thought it was too cold to be out walking.  I laughingly told him I agreed but the pups thought otherwise.  Oreo was shivering so bad I broke out her fleece coat and put it on her and she hates wearing coats but she quit shivering.

My birthday was Friday so I had the day off.  Matt took me to see Mockingjay.  We're both looking forward to the last installment of this series.  After Jordon got off work we went out to eat.  I'd been craving pizza so we went to IDK for supper and then my request was to go bowling so we did that.  I really need to bowl more, my score was horrible!  I didn't break 100 either game although the last game was close.  Matt gave me a gift certificate for Duluth Trading.  I love this company for great clothing.  I bought Matt and I shirts from them last year for Christmas and we both really like the quality and warmth.

I decided to pick up a temp job, at least through the holidays and possibly through spring.  I desperately want a camper this year and I don't want to take a loan out for it so another job was needed since all overtime at my regular job has been cut.  I'm working 20 hours at the temp job and I'll have them drop it to 16 after the holidays are over. My schedule now is 8 hours on Saturday and 2 to 3 four hour shifts during the week. Yesterday was my first 8 hour shift and I am definitely feeling it in my back.

Matt has been working at his new job for about 6 weeks.  I think we're doing pretty well with working around schedules so far, especially with adding my new schedule into the chaos.  Our biggest problem so far has been Lacey of all things.  She has taken to really creating a disturbance barking and growling when Matt comes home at 3am and again when he comes to bed.  I'm not sure what is causing this and it's so out of character for her.  It's taken 8 years to get her to bark and I'm not sure how to stop it so as not to cause her to stop barking totally again.

READING:

I'm sure I've finished several books since my last post but these I finished this week.

Plain Jayne by Hillary Manton Lodge - Excellent Amish read.  Jayne is a journalist for a newspaper in Oregon and gets put on forced leave so she decides to go check out an Amish community and see if she can do a story on it.  I enjoyed this book so much I'll be buying the next in the series.

Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris by Sarah Trumbull - Another good read about an Australian woman who is traveling and meets a Frenchman.  She goes to France to visit him and then returns.  I've heard it can be really difficult for people to learn to live in France and she gives a glimpse into the problems of learning to live in a new country as well as having a relationship with someone from another country.

CRAFTING:

I bought some fabric to start a quilt with.  It will be a star pattern with dark red, natural muslin and dark blue with star fabric. I've got the fabric washed but it appears I may have to re-wash one of the pieces as it appears one of the cats (Moo) has been laying on it and it now has a coating of fur. Maybe this week I'll start on this project. I'd really like to try using my treadle machine to sew this quilt top and then I plan to hand quilt it.

Tip and Oreo hanging with me while I work

I finished my second rug on my frame this week!  So excited.  Now we have matching rugs by each of our chairs.  I really like how much better this one came out using the fabric to warp the loom with instead of yarn.  No breakage of the warp threads and the rug is a bit thicker.  I also didn't use the artist tripod with this one and instead sat on the floor and laid the loom across my lap.  It could get a bit rough on the tush and back.  I bought the black pillow pictured above to sit on but Oreo claimed it so I need to pick up another one.  It was much easier to work on this way while I was watching TV at night.  The pups seemed to like it since I was down on their level.  It wasn't uncommon for Lacey to have her muzzle resting on my leg while I worked.  This was taken just before I took it off the loom to finish up the last couple rows.

HOUSEKEEPING:

I forgot to pick up bathroom cleaner and didn't want to run out Wednesday night (my night off) so I decided to try some new homemade cleaners.  I went to Clean Mama's website and tried her Lavender and Lemon Bathroom Disinfectant Cleaner, Soft Scrub, and Lemon and Clove Floor Cleaner.  I really liked all the cleaners.  I'd love to get the glass spray bottles she recommends.  In the soft scrub I used my Bonner's Peppermint Soap so it had a nice peppermint scent.  The soft scrub worked great on the soap and oil buildup around the tub from when I soak.  I plan on trying her daily tub and shower spray next.  I need to get another spray bottle though. If you don't like the essential oils she suggests you can always use different ones.  I decided to try them and liked them.  I may try Orange and Clove for the next floor cleaning.  I have a caddy in my master bath with cleaners but need to make up a second caddy for the other bathroom so I'm not having to carry things back and forth.

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.

Ramblings May 5th

As much as we love for our friends and family to visit, afterwards we always have that sigh of relief that we have our home to ourselves again.  We are hermits somewhat in this aspect.  My Mom was visiting the past week from Pennsylvania where she is living now.  It was a nice visit and hopefully she enjoyed it.  Thankfully I was able to take time off and spend with her this visit.  She definitely got a dose of North Dakota weather while she was here with everything from snow to rain to a day or 2 of sunny weather in the 60's.

Matt thankfully was able to get the flooring done a couple days before she arrived.  Matt thought I did an excellent job on the room redecorating it, he called it Comfortable Country.  I found the comforter and throw at a thrift shop.  I put the green rug I'd crocheted on the new floor next to the bed. and I also replaced the sheer valance with thermal curtains.  Matt's sister, Bee, gave us the Bentwood rocker several years ago.  With my new desk set up in my office area there was no room for it so I decided it would make a nice addition to the guest room.  The walls will be our next major upgrade once we get a home improvement store in town.  We plan on taking out all the paneling and replacing it with drywall throughout the trailer. Once I get the nasty wallpaper taken down and the drywall up I think I'll do this room possibly in a cream color or a maybe a light green.  I need to get some decorations for the walls now.

Before

After

Matt's birthday was Friday so I took the whole day off.  We had planned initially to go to Valley City antiquing and thrift shopping but the weather was forecast better for Thursday so we went Thursday instead and stayed home on Friday.  I found a really nice top at one of the thrift stores for $1.  Mom had asked for me to make meatloaf while she was here but then changed her mind and wanted a spaghetti dinner so that was her supper the last night.  She enjoys home cooking so we mostly stayed in although we did take her out a couple times.  Friday I sat and watched movies with her and crocheted a jute rug.  It worked up really quickly and is so nice.  I have it outside at our entry door.

Saturday we took a road trip and met one of my sisters in Minnesota so Mom could stay with her for the rest of the time she's visiting.  I'll give more details on that trip in another post.  We met her in Alexandria, Minnesota which is about 3 hours from our home.  It made for a little bit of a long day but the weather was beautiful and sunny although winds were gusting and the temp was only in the 40's so it felt a bit chilly.  I had taken a light sweater with and realized by the time we arrived in Alexandria that it wasn't heavy enough for me to be outside much so we stopped at Fleet Farm and I was able to pick up a fleece lined zip-up sweatshirt.

Sunday was catching up on cleaning and laundry and then kicking back relaxing.  We prefer to do our birthdays privately so we waited until Sunday to celebrate Matt's birthday.  He requested my homemade pizza (no surprise there) and a cake so I made a dark chocolate bundt cake with coconut almond frosting.  I always have a fear when I make bundt cakes that they'll stick to the pan and not come out.  I thoroughly coated my ceramic pan with coconut oil before pouring the batter in.  I forgot to flour it as the instructions called for but it came out great.