Old Things

I am a keeper of old things. This canister set belonged to my mom. It is the only set I can remember her owning. I love them. When I open the lid to get flour, sugar, or whatever I am getting, it gives me much pleasure to know she used it before me. I have my mom’s cast iron skillet, my grandmother’s bread bowl and many more things that have been handed down. They don’t have to have belonged in the family. I just like old things. I am always on the lookout at thrift stores or yard sales for things with character (older).

Today has been windy and fairly chilly here in Floyd. Without the wind, it would have been kinda nice. We have sunshine and that is always good. We did school as usual. I did two loads of laundry. One is drying on the front porch. I don’t like to hang clothes on the line when we have a fire. It always makes the clothes smell like smoke. The other load I will put on the drying rack tonight and it will be dry in the morning. I really enjoy using it.

Time for me to get busy cooking supper. We are trying a new recipe tonight. I’ll let you all know if it is a keeper. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 18, 2012 5

My Christmas Gift

Hubby has been working on my Christmas gift. I love it!!!

This is a side view.

Front view and

all folded up. It will hold lots and lots of clothes. I will take a picture later of it full of clothes.

He has also been working on Chuck’s gift.

A porch swing. I think it is very pretty. I really like the two colors together. Chuck and his family are coming up tomorrow. I have to get busy today to finish his “goodie basket”. We will be having ham, mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade rolls.

The Horn’s are coming over this evening. For supper, we will be having 15 bean soup, rolls and a peppermint cake. I got the recipe from http://nadinesnook.blogspot.com/2011/12/peppermint-cake.html I hope you all have a wonderful day and God bless.

December 22, 2011 10

A Splash of Color

My Christmas cactus is blooming. I don’t think it has ever bloomed at Christmas but it’s very pretty no matter when it blooms. I love the bright pink color. It always makes me feel happy when I look at it.

Temperatures here this morning were mid 20’s with a heavy frost. It has warmed up already to low 30’s and the sun is shining. I think it will be a nice day. We will be doing school as usual, then we have some wood to unload. We also need to go into town to get some chicken feed. Thank the Lord, we have once again sold enough eggs to pay for the feed.

Jess and Katie are doing well and big brothers are adjusting nicely to having a little one in the house. Katie seems to be (as of right now) a very content little girl. She sleeps very well at night, 3-4 hrs between bottles. Amazing! David will be going back to work on Thursday. He took a week vacation during Katie’s birth.

Well, it is almost time for school and I have clothes to hang out. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 8, 2011 5

Homemade Laundry Soap and Bluing

I have just discovered this product. Some of you ladies may already know about it but I had never heard of it. You all know that I have made my own laundry soap for years. I have always had trouble with it leaving my clothes looking dingy. I would make a batch and by the time I used it up my clothes would be looking like I hadn’t even washed them. YUCK! Then I would buy a box of store bought detergent and use it up so my clothes would look clean again. Then repeat the process. So I was reading on line and one of the recipes was saying you could add bluing to your detergent. What? I immediately jump up to the google bar and type in, “What is bluing?” It is something you add to your wash to make your white clothes remain white. You can buy it online. Our local supermarket carried it. Can you believe that? I had never even noticed it before. Well, as of right now, I am thinking it is the best thing since sliced bread. I have been using it for about 2 weeks. My whites are still white. I think I have found my solution. Also when using homemade laundry soap, my towels usually become water resistent. They would not absorp water. This has not happened since I started using the bluing. YEAH! I hope this post doesn’t sound like a commercial for bluing. I just wanted you ladies to know, in case any of you have been having the same problem. I also bit the bullet and purchased some lavender essential oil to add to it. I avoided buying it for years because, well, everything you add to it makes the cost go up more and I wanted to keep it cost effecient. But I really like for my clothes to smell nice after they have been washed. I admit it. I like smelly things (good smelly things).

I also tried something new today. I made my own fabric softener. The recipe I used is:

1 cup baking soda
6 cups distilled white vinegar
8 cups water
10 -15 drops orangeessential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops lemonessential oils (optional) or 10 -15 drops essential oils, of choice (optional)

Directions:

You will need a one gallon container.
First add the baking soda to the plastic container.
Next add 1 cup of water to start with.
Slowly add the vinegar to the bottle as the vinegar and baking soda will start to fizz.
Then add the rest of the water swirling around & cover venting the top a few times.
Last add the essential oil.
Add 1 cup in your final rinse cycle for each load but give the bottle a good shake to stir up the essential oil if using.

I got this recipe from food.com. I want to remind you all that baking soda and vinegar fizzes at lot when mixed together. Now, I knew this but for some reason I put my baking soda in and then just started pouring in the vinegar. HUGE MESS! My thanks to my darling girls who came to Mom’s rescue with lots of towels. Anyway just a reminder. I used lavender essential oil in mine, so now I have lavender laundry detergent and lavender fabric softener. My clothes should smell great.

Well, that’s my day. I hope you have a great evening and God bless.

October 21, 2011 6

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Creamer

I thought I would share with you all my recipe for pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer. I got the original recipe from http://drink.betterrecipes.com/pumpkin-pie-spice-coffee-creamer.html I have altered it a little to suit our taste. I use 1 cup plain non dairy coffee creamer, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup powdered milk and 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice mix. Mix together with a whisk. After mixing, I put the mixture in my coffee grinder and grind it up a little finer than it already is, just to make sure everything is incorporated. This creamer goes wonderful with the pumpkin spice coffee I told you all about yesterday. This jar is for Jess, per request. We will be going down on Saturday for her baby shower.

I have clothes to get on the line and school to start so I guess I better get busy. I hope you all enjoy your day and God bless.

September 29, 2011 7

Back View

There is a slight hill at the back of our house. This picture was taken from the top of the hill looking down.

Not much happening here today.(I hope) Hubby did not need me today so the girls and I are working on some housecleaning. We have a few tomatoes to can so we will probably work on those. Maybe just a little reading time thrown in for fun. As of now, clothes are calling. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 25, 2011 5

Surprise!

Yesterday, we went down to watch the boys while Jess went for her ultrasound. This time the baby was not shy. Jess will be having a little girl in November. All seems healthy which of course is the most important thing. About 2 months ago, while in Goodwill, I found this darling little dress. I thought it was so cute I just had to buy it. You know, just in case it was a girl. I figured I could always give it as a gift to someone.

We had quite a lot of rain last night and today has been alternately overcast and then sun. I have clothes on the line hoping to get them dry. It is very humid here with a temperature of 90 but we do still have a slight breeze.

I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

July 6, 2011 9

Ducks and Geese

The ducks and the geese were in the yard together this morning. Look how much they have grown. The mama duck has 5 babies that have survived. One goose is missing. We are hoping it is not mama or papa. From what I can understand they mate for life. If something has happened to one of them it would mean no more babies, which would be very sad.

Our VBS has been a lot of fun so far. 2 more nights to go. Thursday night is family night. We went with Hubby yesterday. He had a little repair job at this house on Claytor Lake. We worked on school while he did the job. Then we went down to the lake for a picnic. It was a nice day. I, of course, forgot the camera so no beautiful lake pictures.

Today is a beautiful day here in Floyd. Temperature is in the lower 70’s as of now. The sun is shining and we have a slight breeze. Very nice. We are hoping for nice temperatures this weekend as Dave, Jess, and the boys are coming up. We hope to go into town on Saturday night and watch the fireworks.

I have clothes ready for the line so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 29, 2011 4

Our First Harvest

We are starting to enjoy the fruit of our labor. I know its a small amount but the first is always the best. We love it when the garden starts coming in.

Yesterday we went over to the Horn’s. Vicki put some of my old schoolbooks on ebay for me. I have never sold anything on ebay. They only allowed us to put 10 items. Hopefully, they will sell and then we will put more. We’ll see. Anyway, thanks again Vicki, for helping me. The girls had a great time playing as usual. Vicki showed me some pictures of projects she wants to do this summer. It was a really good visit. After that we had piano lessons. While the girls did their lessons, I did some grocery shopping. We were out of chick feed so I picked some up. They are starting on the layer crumbles now. Hopefully, soon, we will be gathering eggs. So exciting.

I better get busy. Clothes to hang on the line (as usual). Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 21, 2011 4

Baby Ducks

We finally managed to get some pictures of the baby ducks. They have grown so much. When she first brought them off the nest, they were so tiny. We could hardly see them in the grass.

She is getting very brave with them now. In these pictures, she is in the edge of the yard. Maybe not too smart with all the cats we have running around here.

Today has been rather hot here. Hubby worked some on putting the vinyl siding on the new room we built last fall. He almost got it all finished. We washed clothes and hung them out. They dried pretty quick. Todays “lupper” was wilted lettuce and onions with crumbled bacon, pinto beans and corn on the cob. I also baked some corn bread and made some flitters, watermelon for dessert.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 7, 2011 5