A Nice Surprise

Last night during our fellowship meal, one of the ladies told me she had something for me out in her car. She had gotten me this beautiful material. She found it a Wal-Mart. Our Wal-Mart does not sell material but they had this on clearance, probably from another store. Each bolt has 5 yards of material on it. Lots of aprons! Sometimes God amazes me, the way He leads us to encourage each other. I was feeling a little down about messing up the other material and then He surprises me through a generous friend. God is good.

Temperatures here have changed drastically from yesterday. Mid 20’s with lots and lots of cloud coverage. We are not getting any snow yet but it definitely feels like snow.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 31, 2011 4

Having Fun

Fishing. Such great fun for two little boys on a warm Sunday afternoon. Temperatures here today are amazing. Mid 50’s. The sun is shining beautifully. The mother of these two boys had called while we were at church. She wanted to know if she could bring the boys to fish for a while. They had a great time.

I fixed a new recipe for lunch today. I got it from a blogger friend. It is called Amish 13 Bean and Sausage Chowder.

2 cups of 13 Bean Blend
1 qt. fresh water
2 tsp. butter
1 tsp. lemon juice
4 tsp chicken broth
4 cups potatoes (diced)
2 cups onions (diced)
1 1/2 cups celery (sliced with leaves)
1 can (15oz) yellow corn
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 qt whole milk
1 cup light cream
1 egg
3 Tbsp. Corn Starch
2 Tbsp. Flour
2 lbs of smoked sausage (sliced 3/8″)

1. Soak Bean in water overnight and drain.
2. Simmer the first 5 ingredients together in a heavy kettle for 30 minutes
3. Add the next 5 ingredients and cook another 15 minutes till potatoes are tender. (Do not stir much)
4. Add garlic salt, sage, black pepper & milk (Do not let boil)
5. Blend light cream, egg, corn starch & flour together in a bowl with a whip till smooth.
6. Slowly add the step #5 mixture and heat gently to thicken. Add sausage and Serve.

We liked it very much. I am taking the rest of it tonight to church for our fellowship meal. We will be having the soup, cornbread, pigs in a blanket, cake and ice cream. We have 3 more weeks after tonight on our study of II Corinthians.

Enjoy your evening and God bless.

January 30, 2011 4

Finished Health

We are finished with health! Isn’t that great? The girls decided yesterday that since we were so close to being finished, they would just work on through to the end. (This decision was made all on their own, I didn’t even suggest it) I think that is amazing in itself but so typical of homeschool kids.

Today is a very nice day. Lots of sunshine. Temperatures are in the low 40’s. Amazing! I have clothes on the line, I love it. The girls and I have been walking down to the barn to get milk this week. Today’s walking should be fairly nice except for the mud. I know, complain, complain. But I really do not like walking in mud. Good exercise though.

Tonights menu will be kielbasa with sauteed mushrooms, onion, garlic and green peppers served over brown rice. I haven’t decided what to have for dessert yet , maybe a peach cobbler. I have made little progress on the matching aprons. I am very frustrated with myself. I made an unfixabe error on the little girl apron. I will have to transform it into a doll apron. At least, it will be usable for something. Well, that’s how you learn, I reckon.

I hope you all have lots of sunshine today and warm temperatures and that you are able to go outside and enjoy the beauty of the day. God bless.

January 29, 2011 3

New Homemade Laundry Soap Recipe

Today I am making laundry soap. I am trying a new recipe. I have experienced some problems with the old recipe I have been using. I have been making my own laundry soap for about 2 years now. The problem is that my towels, dishcloths, washcloths, napkins etc have become very non absorbent. It is like they have a water repellent on them. I am not joking. I can have a spill, put a napkin down on it, leave it and come back in about l min. and the spill is still there. The napkin is just laying there on top of the spill. I have tried lots of different things to solve this problem and none of them seem to help. I have used vinegar in the rinse, used fabric softener, not used fabric softener. It is still the same. I came across this recipe at the Hillbilly Housewife. It is a little different from my old one. We’ll see how it works. Hopefully this will fix my problem.

Homemade Laundry Detergent Recipe

1 bar of Fels Naptha soap, shaved
4 cups of hot water to melt the soap
3 gallons of hot water
1 cup of borax
2 cups of washing soda
1 cup of baking soda
1 large Rubbermaid container about 4-5 gallons size

Heres what you do:
Grate the soap into a saucepan. You can use either a box grater or a food processor for this. I recommend you do not use whatever tool you use for grating soap with food. I was able to buy an extra food processor very inexpensively at a thrift store.

Add 4 cups of hot water to the pan. Simmer on low until the soap melts completely into the water.

Add borax, washing soda and baking soda to the hot water. Simmer on low until it desolves with the soap. If the mixture is not melting, add more water if needed.

Add 3 gallons of hot water to the large container. Add the mixture to the hot water. Mix with a large spoon until it
completely dissolves.
Let cool overnight. You will notice that it turns into a thick gel. Use 1 cup of this homemade laundry detergent per load of laundry.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 28, 2011 4

Evening Sky

Yesterday after the snow stopped, our sky was gorgeous. I tried to take a picture of it. This does not really do it justice but it was the best one I took. The wind picked up considerably after the snow stopped, 30 to 40 mph. We have wind here almost always but after snow storms it usually kicks up quite a bit. This wind is a blessing though in the summer as it keeps our temperatures cooler than surrounding areas.

We have decided not to have bible study tomorrow due to road conditions. I miss those ladies when we don’t meet. Today will be school as usual. We hope to finish health by the end of next week. Then we can double up on another subject and get it finished. I have already been looking at next years books. So exciting! How blessed we are to be able to homeschool. I love teaching my girls, spending time with them. We have so much fun.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 27, 2011 4

Snow

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.

January 26, 2011 5

Geese

This morning as Hubby and I were having our morning coffee together, we saw what we thought were tracks on the pond. Then we thought maybe it was just where the wind had blown the snow in swirls. Later in the day, Grace took these pictures.

They look like they are having fun!

Maybe this is a sign of early spring. They do seem to be here kinda early this year. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Yesterday, for dessert I made an oatmeal pie. This is one of my favorites, also Julie and Jess. The recipe is:

2 eggs beaten, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla, 2/3 cup melted butter, 2/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt. Mix all ingredients together and pour into uncooked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for l hr.

Okay, so my crust is not too pretty but I promise you it tasted delicious! It tastes a lot like pecan pie. Temperatures here are warm-mid 30’s. We have some sun right now but a storm is supposed to be moving in. One forecast said 4-5 in of snow. We’ll see. Right now though it is nice. I have clothes on the line outside, hopefully, they will dry before the clouds come in.

Tonights menu is deer bbq, made from the roast yesterday, home fries and slaw. We still have some pie left for dessert. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 25, 2011 6

Monday

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.

January 24, 2011 6

An Old Leather Project

This is a picture of an old leather book bag I made when I was in college. It is roughly 35 years old (I guess I am really telling my age now). As you can see, it gets a lot of use. I’m not even sure what the stain is at the bottom but its been on it for a very long time. I used to work a lot with leather. I have made purses, moccasins, walets, lots and lots of belts. Hubby also has done lots of leather work. He more than me actually. He used to run a leather shop, back when we were younger. He made a knife sheath for our old pastor about 2 years ago. Other than that we have not done leather work in many years. We do still have our tools though. We have talked some about getting them out and working some with the girls. Teaching them how to make things. Leather is just so expensive but I think it would be lots of fun.

This is a picture I did. Once again, many years ago. I won 2nd place in a craft fair with it. Looking at these reminds me of how much fun working with leather is. Well, so much for my walk down memory lane.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 21, 2011 5

Remembering Summer

I thought we might all enjoy looking at some summer pictures. I think I like summer better than winter but thats just my personal opinion.

Yesterday was kinda exciting for me. I sold 6 dishcloths and a little girl apron! YEAH! Makes me want to get busy making more. I think the next two I make will be waist aprons instead of full aprons. I want to see how they sell. They seem to be pretty popular.

School today as usual. Tomorrow is Ladies bible study. This week we are studying Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary of Bethany. This has been a really good study guide so far. I would definitely recommend it. Tonights menu is London Broil, homefries, green beans, homemade rolls and banana pudding for dessert.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 20, 2011 6