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. 

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.