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.

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: October 4-5

Unbelievably we had SNOW flurries here Friday!  It was so dark and dreary that I opened the blinds by my work computer.  They volatile weather we've been having has been causing cluster migraines and I've kept the blinds closed due to light sensitivity.  When I glanced out I thought it was raining until I happened to glance at my neighbor's roof and notice the white blowing across it.  Thankfully no accumulation. Saturday when I took Jordon to work the Jeep said it was 36' out.  Brrr.  Matt thankfully turned the furnace on Saturday morning before I got up. Next week temperatures are expected to be in the 50's with winds up to 40 mph so I think we're safe from any snow for a little bit yet.  Hopefully we get a nice weekend yet so we can clean the windows and possibly power wash the house before winter sets in.

PROJECT:  

I was determined to get the table set done this weekend and I did it!  It took me all of Saturday and left me exhausted but I did it.  I think it turned out really nice.  I painted it antique white.  The antique white is a little bit more white than I'd planned but it looks great. Matt and Jordon carried the table in from the mudroom and Matt put it back together today.  The paint is still a bit tacky today so we weren't able to use it for supper tonight.  I stained in the mudroom to have better ventilation.  I'm asthmatic and I didn't think the stain fumes would be good to be breathing all day and night while the chairs and table dried.  Total cost for this project was somewhere between $40 and $50.  I think it was still a good deal.  The new set definitely brightens up the dining room.

My second project this weekend was putting up the fall/Halloween decorations.  This is my favorite holiday and I'm so disappointed that it's hardly observed here.  We've gotten no trick-or-treaters in the two years we've been here.  I'll have candy on hand just to be safe but I'm sure we'll end up eating it.  Thankfully Jordon enjoys Halloween as much as I do so it made it more exciting to get everything out this year.

Matt and Jordon took our old table to our storage unit and I'm giving it to Jordon to use once he gets his own place.  They also took Jordon's kayak to the storage unit since it's doubtful he'll be using it again this year.  

MENUS:

With my overtime starting to disappear I'm needing to watch my pennies more closely and that means I have to meal plan.  I haven't been doing weekly menus for a while so I'm bringing them back.  Matt looked at the menu plan for the week and informed me he really liked the look of it so this menu is stamped Matt approved.

Sunday: Maple chicken thighs, loaded mashed potatoes, country style green beans and carrot salad.

Monday: Jambalaya

Tuesday: Sausage patties and mac & cheese

Wednesday:  Chicken tortilla soup

Thursday:  Tacos and home canned refried beans with homemade salsa

Friday: Cube steak & pepper sandwiches and steak fries

Saturday: Tortellini and sausage with 3 cheese sauce and asparagus

Sunday:  Homemade fried cod, fried potatoes and cole slaw


READING NOOK:

The Art of Imperfection by Veronique Vienne
This is another little book by author Veronique Vienne.  I really like her little books and grab one whenever I find one I don't have.  This one covers our needing to embrace not being perfect and rejoicing in our imperfections.

The Amish Cook's Anniversary Book - 20 Years of Food, Family and Faith by Lovina Eicher with Kevin Williams
I've really enjoyed reading The Amish Cook since I discovered it a couple months ago.  Kevin Williams worked for a newspaper and wanted to add an Amish recipe section to it and searched and found a woman to write the column.  Elizabeth Coblentz was the original Amish Cook.  Her daughter Lovina Eicher took over on Elizabeth's death and in this book Lovina's oldest daughter, Elizabeth who was named after her Grandmother, would occasionally pen a column for her mother.  The first one she wrote was at age 11 and she even included a recipe for no bake cookies with it.  Besides the newspaper column, they also wrote several cookbooks together which are a wonderful combination of recipes, news about the family and life in the area. They give an interesting glimpse into the Amish life. It's amazing to me to read how people would drop by unexpected for a visit and she'd feed 40+ without much thought.  Reading the work involved with an Amish wedding was fascinating too.

WEEKEND RAMBLINGS - September 27-28

SUNDAY MENU:
Breakfast - store bought cinnamon rolls and apple cider
Lunch: turkey sandwiches
Supper: Pecan crusted chicken breast, yellow rice, and green beans

READING:
The Alchemist by Paulo Coehho
A Prairie Christmas Collection by various authors
Dark Witch by Nora Roberts

PROJECTS:
I can tell it's fall as weekends are jammed with things to do before winter sets in.  Unfortunately my house cleaning hasn't gotten done this weekend either because of it.

Two weeks ago I bought a tile topped table with 4 chairs for $10.  It was a fantastic buy but needed a bit of TLC.  This weekend I've started the restoration.  I'm not a fan of the blond wood and it was in bad shape anyway so after a lot of reading I decided to use a poly stain and darken up the seats and the wood around the tile.  From what I've read I need to let the stain cure for 30 days and then put a finish coat on to keep it from chipping.  Needless to say Matt is impressed with the improvement so far.  Hopefully next weekend I can freshen up the white portions by painting them antique white and I'll probably distress them a little bit.

Before - it had some type of gel paint or fingernail polish on several of them and lots of scratches

After first coat of stain

After 2nd coat of stain

Table before - thankfully all the tile were intact and none were broken

After first coat of stain

EVENTS:

Saturday we went to a rodeo up at the Civic Center.  After attending my first outdoor rodeo over the 4th of July weekend I'm not as big on the indoor ones and it was such a beautiful weekend it would have been great if it had been outside.  It just wasn't the same standing above the arena watching as it was standing next to the fence this summer.

I did enjoy it though.  One of the broncos apparently opened it's chute gate and came strutting out and pranced around the ring for several minutes showing off before they were able to get him back into the chute again.  There were several of the bulls too that decided they wanted to strut some after they'd thrown their riders and didn't want to leave the arena.  One bull rider was knocked out after being thrown and was carried off on a backboard but thankfully was okay.  I took the pictures with my phone and even with the sports mode some of the action photos turned out slightly blurry so I apologize.  I need to remember to take the camera.

bronco threw his ride and thankfully jumped over the rider so he wasn't hurt

women's barrel racing

waiting for steer roping

Weekend Rambling

Another cold although less windy weekend.  I ended up having something of a long weekend since I had to take Friday off due to Lacey being sick.  She decided to rip open a brand new bag of dog food Thursday while we were at work and gorged herself.  Of course once I got home she proceeded to start vomiting a good portion of it back up all over the carpets.  She is my problem child.  Thankfully when I ordered the bar soap for my laundry soap I decided to buy a bottle of the liquid soap as well (also in peppermint scent) so it masked the smell wonderfully.  I was concerned about diarrhea Friday so I decided to stay home and play it safe because diarrhea and carpets do not go well together.

Lacey the Problem Child

Saturday:
Breakfast: Donuts
Lunch:  I had leftover ravioli and Matt made a PB&J
Dinner:  Brats and coleslaw with cranberries and sunflower seeds

Sunday: 
Breakfast:  Egg in a Hole
Lunch:  Leftover brocolli cheddar soup and roll
Supper:  Chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes (I've been craving this for weeks!)


I got myself motivated early and cleaned the bedroom and bath along with running a couple loads of laundry and working out on the treadmill before I headed out to do some thrift store and grocery shopping.  I'd planned to hit 2 of the thrift stores in town but hit a jackpot at Goodwill so I didn't bother with Salvation Army.  I picked up several queen and king size sheets for a rug project I'm getting ready to start.  I think I paid about $10 for all 4 sheets, which should make a rug from what I've read.  I may go back and pick up the other green striped sheet just in case.  I also picked up 2 Patterson novels for Matt and several books for myself.

My afternoon was spent canning beef & vegetable soup.  I canned 6 quarts of soup.   While the soup base was simmering on the stove I put together a pie using some of the Gala apples and pear apples (asian pears?) from the Bountiful Basket along with some leftover cherry berry smoothie mix I had in the freezer.  It wasn't bad for a thrown together treat especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I'd planned to can some of the 25 pounds of carrots I bought but Matt doesn't want them "mushy" so I guess I'll have to freeze them instead.

After I got done with that I was ready to kick back and watch the Olympics with Matt.  Matt and I both spent a good portion of the weekend kicking back.  I have been feeling mentally exhausted.  I think all the mandatory overtime is starting to wear on me.  I could use a vacation but since that's not on the calendar any time soon this mini vacation helped.  I really wish I had snowshoes or cross country skis so I could try that and do some skijoring and snowshoeing with the dogs.  I'm sure some good outdoor exercise would do me a world of good.  Hopefully next winter.

My reading for the weekend included a mystery and a romance.  I downloaded a free Kindle book called A Shot in the Bark by C.A. Newsome.  Excellent book and I will definitely be purchasing her next 2 books in the series.  The book centers around a dog park so dog lovers will definitely enjoy this book.  I worked on Mansfield Park.  The movie is not my favorite Austen movie and the book is turning out to be the same which is causing me to not be enthusiastic about finishing it.  Thankfully I have over a month to finish it for the discussion group.  I just keep getting annoyed she doesn't seem to have any backbone and she's so timid.  I also purchased A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg and started that.  For some romance I read One Magic Moment by Lynn Kurland.  I adore Kurland's books about time travel.  I thought I had all them and to discover one at Goodwill that I didn't have was so exciting.   This one is definitely up on my favorites list.

Cold and Windy Weekend Ramblings Part II

Our lazy winter weekend continued today.  I woke up to blowing snow with winds gusting to over 50 mph.  The roads were not plowed and there was a "No Travel Advisory" out due to ground blizzard conditions.  Matt ventured out and got stuck twice trying to get to the end of the road.  Good day to stay home as far as I'm concerned.  Unfortunately the dogs are starting to get cabin fever.

Lazy Day Menu 2:
Breakfast: Cheerios (Matt didn't want anything so I'm trying to use them before they go stale)
Lunch: Taco salad
Supper:  Homemade pizza.

Supper was supposed to have been Pho soup but I realized while I was explaining what it was to Matt's sister this afternoon that I'd forgotten to get the bok choy for it.  As I wasn't going out in this miserable weather to try to find some I had to come up with an alternative plan.  Matt offered to brave the roads for a pizza which was when I explained I had all the makings for one here since he prefers homemade anyway.  It's a great reason to have extra food in the pantry.  Continuation of cleaning and my house smells wonderfully of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Magic Soap.  Final loads of laundry were done.

Today I started reading Money Secrets of the Amish - Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving by Lorilee Craker.  I had bought another book to read for today but this came up as a suggestion and after reading about it I decided to buy it and read it today.  Lorilee is a modern Mennonite.  A modern Mennonite is one that you wouldn't know is Mennonite from their clothes or anything else.  The women don't wear coverings and wear pants and they can drive cars.  I'm only about 40% of the way through the book.  Her concept is to figure out how the Amish can live abundantly even in rough financial times and still thrive and figure out how to use those concepts in our modern lives.  She was able to speak with different Amish people; an Amish Bishop, a family that saved $400,000 over 20 years to buy a farm of their own while renting a farm and raising 14 children, and a banker that serves mostly Amish to name a few.  One of the conclusions is that you have to have a goal such as a farm to work towards.  It's got me rethinking ways I can tighten my belt so we can get a camper and make a trip to Mount Rushmore this summer.  This will be another book I'll reread to catch things I missed during the first reading.  Some of the usual things like shopping thrift stores and such are included but she's coming from nearly a shopaholic starting point.  I'm curious to see how the rest of the book is.

Cold and Windy Weekend Ramblings

Friday night I went to bed singing "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".  When I let the dogs out before heading for bed it had started snowing and the song popped into my head.  Needless to say I don't think Matt was too impressed when I walked into the bedroom singing it.  With forecasts of plunging temps, blizzard conditions, and just plain nasty weather I decided I wasn't leaving the house this weekend unless it was an emergency and fortunately none occurred.

After watching the news Thursday night I decided to go grocery shopping Friday after work so it would be done.  When I got home Friday I was amazed to find a box from Amazon with my soap bars in it I'd ordered. They said it would be here Friday but rarely does anything arrive when they tell me it will especially in this type of weather.  My first project for Saturday was laundry soap making.

Matt and I both sort of agreed it was a kick back and read type of day so that's what we did along with watching a Harry Potter marathon.  Sometimes you need to take a vacation even at home for mental health.  I did manage to get some cleaning and vacuuming done along with several loads of laundry and I baked cookies in between chapters.   

Lazy Day Menu for Saturday:
Breakfast:  Donuts - Matt had a craving for some so he did a store trip to get some
Lunch: Turkey and Bacon with Provolone on ciabatta bread and chips and dip
Supper:  Chicken stir-fry and rice

These cookies I found on Pinterest and they are wonderful.  I used 1 cup M&M's and 1 cup mini chocolate chips.

My reading choices this weekend have been Amish based.  I've been reading 50 Shades of Gray and I think I needed a mental cleansing.  I grew up near the large Bremen / Nappanee Amish community and they've always fascinated me.  Amish Acres was one of my favorite places to visit.  There use to be several Amish run family style restaurants that were my absolute favorite place to eat but they've unfortunately closed.  I've always said I was born in the wrong era.  I get angry with all the Amish bashing shows on of late.  Just like any religious community it has it's good and bad eggs in it.  From my experience with the Amish they are a good group of people. 

Today I read Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth.  Her and her husband have a ministry called Blessed Earth  and speak about living more simply.  During one of their discussions someone asked "What, are you Amish?" which sparked thought for her and ultimately the book.  It's all about living more simply and she uses the examples of the Amish to show it can be done.  This is a Christian book so she also uses lots of biblical references to go along with the Amish examples.  It's an interesting book.  I doubt they would have been able to have done all they did if her husband hadn't been a doctor making a nice income before he decided to leave medicine to focus on their simple living ministry.  Granted they were wise with the money he made but they probably would not have been able to do many of the things they've done if they hadn't been able to build up that nest egg.  There are a lot of good ideas though and it's a good book to get ideas from. I will reread this again.