This is a picture of the latest apron I made.  Remember last week, I told you all I was taking the laundry soap and some dishcloths to a local store.  Well, she wanted them to sell and she said she would try to sell my aprons as well.  I hope to take her this one tomorrow.  Wouldn’t it be a blesssing if some of my homemade stuff starting selling?  I hope to use the money I make from selling my stuff to purchase school books for next year.

Today we are having a new soup recipe I got from a blogger friend, who got it from another blog.  I altered the recipe a little to better fit what I had on hand.  The recipe is

Super Easy Crockpot Hamburger Veggie Soup

1lb hamburger (I used london broil leftover from the other night chopped into small pieces)
1 onion, chopped and 1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 can green beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
1 T chicken or beef broth powder
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 can organic cream of mushroom soup (a brand such as Amy’s, found in health food stores)
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown hamburger and onions until meat is no longer pink and onions are soft. Add to crockpot. Add remaining ingredients, stir. Cook on low for 7 to 8 hours. Serve with some hot homemade dinner rolls for a great meal.  I am hoping to do lots more crockpot meals.  The crockpot doesn’t heat up the house like using the stove does and it is easy (I think).

When I started making this soup, I realized I did not have any cream of mushroom soup.  I went on line and found this easy recipe to make my own.  I found it at CheapCooking.com The recipe is:

Make your Own “Cream of …” Soup

Whether you want to control the chemicals or the fat, making your own white sauce and flavoring it is cheaper and better for you than those canned cream of whatever soups.

• 2 Tbs butter
• 2 Tbs flour
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)
• 1 cup milk

In a heavy saucepan, melt the butter. Sprinkle the flour over it and stir to incorporate. Cook over medium low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the milk.

Cream of chicken

If you want to make a cream of chicken flavored sauce, use half broth and half milk. If you have troubles getting this to be smooth, try heating the milk or broth before adding to the flour and butter. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat, barely simmering, for a few minutes until thick.

Cheese sauce

To make a cheese sauce, add grated cheese and stir until melted.

Cream of celery or mushroom

To make a cream of some vegetable soup, saute 1/4 cup or so finely chopped celery, mushrooms, or onion in the butter before adding the flour and use half broth and half milk.

I am making cinnamon rolls for dessert so I guess I better get busy.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

This is Baby Emily, David’s neice.  She is a very hardy eater and seemed very content in Daddy’s arms.

Daniel and his cousin Zack riding bikes.  Zack is Emily’s older brother.

And baby Sam held prisoner in his walker.    We all had a lot of fun with lots of good fun.  Jess had ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls and banana pudding.  YUM!

Yesterday we went to get the inspection sticker on my car and found out the tie rods ends were bad.  We had to make a run to C-burg to get new ones.   Hubby and his brother put them on yesterday evening.  We went back in this morning and got the inspection sticker.  Hubby still does not have his window fixed on the van.  This has given him much trouble.  He of course is trying to fix the old one instead of buying a new one.  For some reason, the wire is not winding up on the spool correctly. 

We are getting rain today.  Temperatures are warm though so it will be very good for everything.  The girls and I checked our seeds out yesterday underneath our greenhouse.  We have a few tomatoes coming up, cucumbers and broccoli.  Very exciting.   Well, our lunch break is over.  Time for school to start.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Our spirea bush is also in full bloom.  I love spring!

Yesterday, my Grace did not feel well.  She felt worse as the day progressed.  I finally ended up taking her to Urgent Care late yesterday evening.  She has strep throat.  Not good.  We are praying for a speedy recovery and that the rest of us do not get it.

On now to more pleasant things.  We have lots of sunshine today and the forecast is for warmer temperatures.  Yesterday was a mix of rain, snow, and wind.  It was chilly all day.  We are looking forward to warmer temperatures the rest of the week.  Last nights menu was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls.  Grace, however, did not eat very much as her throat was hurting.

I plan on only doing half school today.  Sickness and school do not go well together.  I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

Our forsynthia bush is in full bloom.  I love the bright yellow color, so cheerful.  Today is beautiful here in Floyd.  Temperature is mid 50′s, the sun is shining and the wind is not too aggressive.   Very nice.  I have one load of clothes on the line and another on the way.  We are busy with school and have plans for outside time this afternoon.  

Yesterday was a nice day too.  Church was very nice and our evening study went very well with lots of discussion.  Our menu last night was beef roast with potatoes and carrots, green beans, macaroni salad, cookies and peaches.  Very good.  We did hamburgers on the grill for lunch yesterday, with grilled onions and asparagus.  I love cooking on the grill.  I think it makes everything taste so good.   

Enjoy your day and God bless.

This is a far off picture of the graveyard that is on the farm.  This picture was taken from the top of our driveway.

This is a closer shot.  Right beside the graveyard is a hay barn.

I’m sure Jess will recognize this picture.  On the left of this picture at the bottom of the hill is an old farmhouse.  Dave and Jess lived there for several years before they moved to N.C. 

Today will be school as usual, though we have not gotten our early start.  We are running a little behind as Hubby and I did not wake up as early as usual.   Saturday, we worked on cleaning up an area where we used to have the swimming pool.  This was a major job which required almost 5 hrs. to finish.  We had the back of the truck completely full of trash to haul to the dumpster.   We had to cut the pool liner in pieces.  It was too heavy to move in one solid piece.  We kept the parts of the pool we thought we might could reuse.  We were all muddy from head to toe, including the “bumpy truck”.  But I am so glad to get this job done.  Vicki and Quintin are giving us some strawberry plants and we plan on putting them in that space.

Yesterday’s menu at church was pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, green beans, cole slaw, beef strogonoff, key lime pie and cookies.  We started our new study on Galatians.  I think it will be a very good study.   I better get busy or school will be starting really late.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

As you all know, I love old things.  My mother-in-law gave me this old lamp while we were down helping her move.  It needed a new shade and a little cleaning.  Grace cleaned it for me and we are on the lookout for a shade that will do it honor.   I have it on top of my treadle sewing machine for now. 

We are getting some much needed rain here today.  I understand we are about 4 in. below normal on our water level.  It seems very cozy, the rain on the tin roof, a warm fire.   I think I need to light some candles to make it even cozier.

We are working on school today.  Also cleaning house.  The ladies will be coming tomorrow for bible study.  Tomorrow will be our last lesson in this study, “Women who believed God”.  It has been a good study.  Tonight’s menu is sloppy joes, french fries, green beans and a peach pie with homemade whipped creme for dessert.  YUM!

I hope you all have wonderful day and God bless.

P.S.  In answer to the question about what sassafras tea tastes like, it resembles a root beer or birch beer taste.  You can drink it hot or cold.  We prefer hot but it is good cold.

This is the new color of the old laundry room.  The trim is white and the door is antique white.  Hubby has to finish the trim and then it will be all done.  He is also working on painting the bathroom.

The inside wall of the old laundry room is the original outside of the house.  Jess had this paint left over from her bedroom.  I think it looks very good on this wall.  I wish I could figure out a way to take a picture that would show how it looks all together but it is a work in progress.  Hubby will paint the trim today.   After that we plan on going over to a friends house for a visit and a haircut. 

Temperatures here are very nice.  It was 42 degrees when we got up this morning.   We decided to let the fire go out today.  YEAH!  That always makes me feel a little “springy”.    I have clothes to hang on the line (of course).  Don’t we always have laundry?

I changed my supper menu last night to fried chicken, potato salad and green beans.  It was so nice and warm.  It reminded me of picnic days.  Tonights menu will be chicken stir fry with egg rolls.  I fried enough chicken last night to have left over for tonight.  I like to do that.  It makes the cooking a little easier and faster if I the meat is cooked in advance.

Time to hang my clothes outside and listen to a little praise music from our birds.  They are starting to sing such beautiful spring songs.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Monday we made jerky.  Jerky is one of our favorite things to dehydrate.  As some of you may remember, we were blessed last year to have a beef given to us.  As it was an old bull , we made hamburger out of most of it.  Above is a picture of our dehydrator, our jerky shooter and the type of jerky mix we use.  All this came from Wal-Mart.  There a lots of jerky mixes out there, this is just the one we use. 

This is what it looks like after it has dried.  The rack is not necessary.  I just put it on it to take the picture.  I thought it would show the jerky better.

When finished, it all fits neatly back into this basket and off the the attic it goes to be stored until next time.  We have dehydrated apples and peppers too, a few bananas and grapes.   We used to dry our green beans on a string in the attic when we lived in Grundy.  I wonder how green beans would be dried in a dehydrator.  Anyone out there ever tried this?  I think I will try it this summer and see how it turns out.   We just called them fodder beans but I have heard them referred to as leather britches.  I know they are good no matter what you call them. 

We did get a storm last night but it was only rain.  YEAH!  Temperatures are very nice today.  Mid 40′s already.  Lots of sunshine.  I have clothes outside on the line.  The wind is supposed to pick up after lunch, about 30 mph with gusts in the 50 mph range.  Typical wind for Floyd.  It helps the clothes dry and makes them soft as long as you can keep them on the line. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

We are getting snow today.  It started out as rain, changed to sleet and now it is all snow.  Predictions are 4-6 in.  We’ll see.  Anyway, it looks pretty coming down. 

Tonights menu is meatloaf, cheesy pototoes, home canned green beans and fresh rolls.  The recipe I use for the meatloaf is:

2 lb hamburger, 2 tbsp bbq sauce, 1 cup milk, 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 sleeve crackers crushed, 1 egg, 1/2 cup chopped onion, salt and pepper to taste.  Bake for 1 hr 15 min at 400 degrees.  Topping for meatloaf- l cup ketchup, 1/2 cup brown sugar. 

Cheesy Potatoes:

In a casserole dish, layer sliced potatoes, chopped onions, salt, pepper, sprinkle on 1 tbsp flour, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded mozzarella–repeat layers pour 1 cup milk over the entire dish and bake at 400 degrees for 45 min or until pototoes are done.

It certainly will smell good in your home while these are baking.  Our rolls are baking as I type.  I think I am getting hungry.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Good morning!  No picture today.  I just couldn’t find anything I thought  was interesting.  We had a really nice weekend.  We went down to Jessica’s on Saturday, planning on coming home that evening.  Things happened and we ended up staying the night and coming home on Sunday.  It was a nice visit.  I got to play some games with Daniel and got plenty of beautiful smiles from Sam.  I just wish I had taken my camera then I would have some pictures to post today.  

Temperatures are chilly here-about 14 degrees with a little snow falling.  Lots of cloud coverage.  I have a deer roast simmering on the wood stove.  It smells so good!  I think we will have mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans with it and, of course, fresh baked rolls.  I have two new aprons cut out and hopefully I will get to work on them today.  It is matching mother/daughter waist aprons.

Enjoy your day and God bless.