The Haven of Home

Vintage Hygiene: Hair

2012-01-31T07:31:00.001-05:00

This is the third post in my Vintage Hygiene series. (Click HERE for the first post and HERE for the second.)

Hair care has changed so much in just my lifetime. When I was born, the popular styles involved lots of teasing and hairspray. A woman always had a "standing" appointment with the hairdresser who would shampoo and set the hair for the rest of the week. I remember my mother doing that and sleeping on a satin pillowcase to keep the style intact.

When I was a kid/preteen, the styles changed to parted in the middle and straight. That worked out well for me! There was ONE perm situation when I was in 7th grade that I'd just as soon forget, though. My mother hated my "long, stringy hair" as she so nicely put it. The humiliation I endured in my homeroom class the next day is with me to this day. I thought I was off perms forever after that.

THEN came the 80s and early 90s--the era of serious perm-dom. I embraced the perm again, for several years. About 15 years ago I got tired of all the fuss and went back to my naturally straight hair. I cut my own hair and I make it look as decent as I can, but I'm starting to get bored with it.

A year or so ago, I started reminiscing about how women used to work on their hair to try to achieve a certain style. I came across a blog called Bobby Pin Blog where a wonderful lady named Lauren specializes in vintage hairstyles. She even wrote a book (click the source link to see the information):

Source

I've owned that book for a while now. Every few months I get out my hot curlers and attempt one of the hairstyles. So far they haven't come out quite as they should, but it's fun to try.

Speaking of hot curlers, Lauren found a set on Ebay back in 2010 that was EXACTLY like my sister's. My sister is 10 years older than I am. She graduated in 1972 and she STILL uses the same set of hot rollers she bought as a teenager. Here's a picture of the case:

And the inside:

Have any of you tried a vintage hairstyle? Have any of you seen a hairstyle that you used to wear "back in the day" and you're a little miffed that it gets the name "vintage?" (HA!)

Personally, I would LOVE to be able to have Samantha's hairstyle from the first season of Bewitched. I know she got it with hot rollers because in one episode she was wearing the rollers. In the scene you could actually see the front and back of the roller formation. I kept pausing to try to see the way she rolled it. I tried it out. I did not succeed. The one word that came to mind was "FRIZZ!" I still want to make it happen, though. Maybe one day!

Source

The Value of Money--Part 2 of 3

2012-01-30T07:27:00.002-05:00

In last week's post (click HERE), Irma and her husband were having issues with their daughter Connie. She was treating them like a money tree when it came to her clothes-buying habits. They were at the end of their wits when they decided to analyze the situation and come up with a solution that they hoped would change Connie's perceptions. Read on:

[Connie] needed to see her clothes outlay in relation to the family budget. She needed to think of the various items in terms of suitability and continued wear. Instead of which, she chose on impulse, and about a third of the time the item so loved in the store hung unused in her closet at home. (Yep, just like the mall girl I mentioned.)

We decided to try turning the entire problem over to her. We'd invest one hundred dollars in a bank account for her and let her spend it the way she wished. The money would have to last from late September through January, and if she ran through it sooner, she'd have to struggle along with what clothes she had. All we asked was that she keep a record of her expenditures.

Connie had a pretty decent wardrobe to start with, but she would need replacements and occasional small luxuries, perhaps a dress and a blouse or two. Coats were not to be included--we weren't quite ready to turn her loose with such an important purchase.

We told her about our decision when school started in the fall. She was just fourteen that month. Her eyes widened in awe at the vastness of the sum entrusted to her care. She was thrilled with anticipation, and eager to start right in on the new project. We had uneasy visions of the bank account's vanishing in the first two weeks.

It didn't. It actually lasted past the appointed time. And it did an incredible lot of good for the whole family. The change in Connie's attitude was so dramatic as to be almost funny. She turned, practically overnight, into a demon shopper who compared prices and quality with astonishingly good judgment.

I was invited to go with her on her first shopping expedition. We spent many hours, but she bought nothing but a tweed skirt for seven ninety-five. It would be fine for school, she decided, because it had flecks of color that would be a cover-up for inevitable smudges.

On later shopping trips, she proved just as sensible. She bought only nylon socks, even though they cost more, because they lasted longer. She concentrated on blouses and skirts instead of dresses, because they afforded more variety. She began, and kept up, an account book that was excellent budget training. By the end of six months, it also provided a bird's-eye view of which purchases had been worthwhile and which had been foolish extravagances. Connie couldn't ignore those five-dollar white-fur mittens by burying them in a drawer, when they stared at her every time she opened her account book.

Next week: The Ultimate Results.

2012-01-27T08:02:00.008-05:00

I love my vintage cook book collection. It's small, but it's growing! Today's featured book was given to me by a friend. (Waves to FarmMom! Email some time!) My copy is the 8th printing which was done in 1956. The first printing was from 1938.

The book was put out by the Atlanta Gas Light Co., Home Service Department. The first page assures me that "It's Fun to Cook!" That would be because they are going to show me how to use my new gas range. They are especially proud of its ability to broil foods as there is an extensive amount of recipes for broiling everything, including dessert.

Today's featured recipe is for Broiled Meatloaf. I don't make meatloaf very often because of the long baking time, so this time-shortened version intrigues me. I will be testing this as soon as ground beef quits pretending it should cost as much as steak. I hope that's soon!

Broiled Meat Loaf

1 pound ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup crushed cereal crumbs (What kind of cereal?)
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon chopped onion

Mix all ingredients together and divide in half on waxed paper. Shape into two firm loaves. Arrange on cold broiler grill 6 inches from flame. Broil 15 minutes, turn, and broil another 10 minutes or until meat is done. Barbecue sauce can be brushed over loaves or served with them. Strips of bacon can be placed over loaves just before they are done and broiled until they are crisp. (Yum!)

6 servings

Poll Results

2012-01-26T21:01:00.000-05:00

Thank you for coming and voting about my Friday subject. It really helped me to see the interests of my readers. The results were:

Vintage Recipes--66%
Featured Blog--41%
Book Reviews--33%
Wordless Friday--16%
Homeschooling--0%
Chaucer--0%

I'm going to take the top three as my Friday focus, alternating amongst the topics at will. SO much better than talking about my grocery trips LOL!

I was sweating it a bit about Chaucer. I've tried to read him, I really have. My eyes rolled so far back into my head with boredom that I was afraid they'd get stuck there. Maybe when he comes up in my homeschooling I'll try again. Meanwhile, neither of those topics will get airplay on Fridays!

Come back tomorrow to see which of the top three I will choose.

Resolution Wednesday: 49 Weeks to Go

2012-01-25T16:22:00.000-05:00

Explanation of Resolution Wednesday's categories.

One more day to vote on Friday's subjects. Come and let me know what interests you most!

Area 1: 2012 in 2012

MUCH better this week: 112 items from jewelry, books, and clothes. I'm going after son's room next week. He says the total will be zero. We'll just see about that!

Decluttered to date: 144
Amount still to go: 1868

Area 2: Weight

Down one pound. Exercising going well.

Area 3: Long-term Goals

This one is 9 1/2 years in the waiting. Before my son was born I played the piano in the worship team at our church. After he was born I tried to continue, but it just wasn't going to work with a little one. Now that he is almost 10, I decided to talk with the pastor to see if there was a place for me again. The only reason there was a vacant piano at all was because the lady who had been playing for the last several years just had a baby and was going to sit out! The pastor said yes and I started last week. Very exciting and a little nerve-wracking, too. It HAS been a long time!

The funniest thing is seeing the sheet music for the songs I used to play and wondering how they shrunk the words to such a small size.

Area 4: Outdoor Time

EVERY day this week except Sunday! When the three degrees stopped and we had a heat wave up into the 20s and 30s, I took advantage and sloshed around in the wet snow. We call this our "January thaw." It doesn't last long. February and March aren't as cold, but the SNOW will be high. That's OK, I have snow shoes!

Vintage Hygiene: Face

2012-01-24T19:38:00.001-05:00

"To be beautiful and natural is the birthright of every woman." ~ Constance Bennett, 1937

This post is part two of four. The first post can be seen HERE. This week's topic is skincare for your face. I'm definitely not one who has flawless skin. FAR from it. I have second stage Rosacea, which means that I'm 48 and still break out! It's not actually acne like the teenage years, so it doesn't respond to normal care. It is definitely frustrating. On top of that, my skin is very dry. If I try to exfoliate, my skin gets bright red and is painful. Fun, fun, fun.

I know that the biggest factor that I could change to improve the condition of my skin is to completely stop eating sugar and instead fill up on whole foods, especially veggies. Also, water, lots of water. I'm working on that.

Meanwhile, I've actually been using a product that was invented 150 years ago: Pond's Cold Cream. I love it! I use it to remove my makeup at night. After I remove all the residue, I put on a another thin layer for the night during the winter. I don't need the extra layer in the summer.

My favorite vintage tip for my morning routine came from the Vintage Notions book. The advice is to use COLD water to splash on your face. After that, dab up the excess water but leave some. Then, take a little of the cold cream and smooth it around, letting it soak in before applying makeup. I've seen a major difference in the smoothness. Winter is still a challenge, so I'm working on the food and water to aid that!

For fun I came across a You Tube video from 1937. Constance Bennett goes through her morning routine after waking up in a bed that I am now coveting. Her maid is a pest, though. I wasn't quite sure WHAT Constance would do if she bothered her one more time!

Oh, and if you're lazy like I am and wear powder "rouge," don't be offended. Maybe she's right and we should try cream rouge? Constance would know.

Next Week: Vintage Tips for the Hair

The Value of Money--Part 1 of 3

2012-01-23T19:02:00.000-05:00

I went shopping for clothes last week. With all the clearance sales and coupons for even more money off, I figured it would be productive. I was right! I did really well and I've got several mix and match basics for rock-bottom prices.

In one store, I was standing in line behind a high school/college age girl. The cashier commented on the party dress she was buying. The girl said, "Oh, I thought it was pretty. I usually do that. I buy something because it's pretty, wear it one time and then it just sits in my closet. Sometimes I give it to a friend." I peeked at the price on the dress. It was "marked down" to $50. In a bag at my feet was what I found at another store. It was filled with clothes for my son. I had paid $56 for the clothes. Know what I got? Five turtlenecks for this/next winter in basic colors, five more turtlenecks for the winter after that, one sweater for this/next winter, two for the third winter, and a long-sleeved rugby striped shirt for this/next winter. For $56.

So, I was looking through one of my vintage magazines and came across an article about parents who were teaching their daughter to be wise with money, especially when it came to clothes. Though this isn't "series" day (that's tomorrow!), I'm going to split up the article into three parts so that you can read it, too.

Maybe someone of the younger set (maybe the girl at the mall?) will come across my posts and see something to inspire them to be wiser about their money.. I hope so!

Experiment in Responsibility by Irma Simonton Black
from Woman's Day, November, 1952

I suppose every parent is touched and pleased when his youngster exhibits signs of dawning adolescence--the small pin worn by a twelve-year-old girl hitherto scornful of ornament; the slicked-back hair of a boy who, a few months before, had to be examined around the ears for cleanliness.

But there's one place it's likely to hurt--the pocketbook. This is especially true with girls. Our daughter developed a high, wide, and handsome approach to clothes buying that, at times, left us wishing for the careless youngster whose favorite costume had been a western shirt and a pair of faded jeans. And she shared this trait with all her friends.

The loafers, for instance. Why, everyone wore loafers! A loaferless thirteen-year-old, according to connie, was in danger of social ostracism. We pointed out that her feet were narrow at the heel and that loafers would slip. We said they weren't good for everyday shoes. Connie got the loafers. They slipped at the heel and hurt her feet. but another variety would probably be more comfortable, she said. Her friend Ginny had a pair that she loved. At this point, her father and I put a collective foot down, although we were considered a pair of stonyhearted old fuddy-duddies.

Then there was the rosy-pink dress, seen and loved at first signt on a routine shopping trip for socks. THe dialogue went something like this:

"Oh, Mother, look! It's just what I need for Linda's party!"

She did need a dress. But she didn't need this one. I looked at the price tag and gulped. "But, Connie," I protested, "it's more than I had planned to pay for a dress at this time of year. In a few weeks you won't be able to wear wool. And this would need frequent cleaning, so it wouldn't be practical for school."

"Just let me try it on, please, Mother," Connie pleaded. "I don't have to get it just because I try it on."

We retired to the dressing room with a saleslady in tow. Need I tell the result?

The new dress looked adorable, and Connie's devotion to it lasted. But it returned from every outing with a spot and spent most of the early spring and the following fall at the cleaner's. The cleaning bills just about tripled the cost of the dress.

My husband and I surveyed the next years with dismay. Connie was just starting. What would she be like by the time she was sixteen? We hated the prospect of constant bickering and admonitions, but we certainly didn't intend to fall into the opposite mistake of letting Connie think she was the pampered darling of a couple of millionaires.

(What will Irma and her husband do? Will Connie become the great-grandmother of the girl that I saw in the mall? Tune in next week!)

POLL! Come and vote: My Blogging Schedule: Fridays

2012-01-20T07:59:00.003-05:00

In THIS POST I mentioned that my blogging schedule for 2012 would be:

Monday: Vintage
Tuesday: Series-type posts
Wednesday: Resolutions update
Thursday: Musings, Daily Life Stuff, or just General Stuff
Friday: Food report
Saturday and Sunday: No posts

Well, I'm liking all the topics except Friday's. The Food Report is just not doing it for me. Considering my dearth of comments on this one (except for Rebecca and Leslie--thanks, y'all!), I'm thinking this one can go. I'm actually a little bored by it myself.

I came up with some other ideas for Friday's topic.

Vintage recipes
Book reviews (I do a LOT of reading)
Featuring another blog (I kind of like this one)
A discourse on the works of Chaucer (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!)
Homeschooling
Wordless Friday

I'm going to put a poll on my sidebar and let you vote for what you think would be a useful, and/or interesting topic. I reserve the right to override if everyone votes for Chaucer. Just sayin'.

I'll make my decision and next Friday's post will reflect the chosen topic.

Come and vote!

Yes, Virginia, I CAN Budget!

2012-01-19T21:59:00.000-05:00

Source (already sold)

Who knew?

I have tried to use a budget for years but always came to the conclusion that I never had enough money to make a budget work. With our sporadic income and the debt load, we just cut things to the bone and became poster children for frugality. It seemed silly to make up numbers for "groceries," and "entertainment" only to have them pretty much never work out.

Well, it was a new year and, doggone it, I was going to make it work this time!

I came up with a two-fold system that seems to have fixed the problems I've been having:

ONE: I have separated out a "Household Budget" from the rest of our money. I determined what I needed to take care of the four areas needed to make the day-to-day stuff function: My van gas and car washes, our clothes, our food, and miscellaneous household expenses like toothpaste and batteries. I came up with a figure that would provide enough money to take care of these areas using my penny-squeezing abilities. I separated that money into a new saving account and use one credit card designated for Household. The money is there at the beginning of the month. When that credit card comes in, it is paid off immediately.

TWO: I update the budget DAILY. Every receipt is instantly recorded. I know at all times what's happening with our finances.

The rest of the money that comes in is recorded in a different budget for General Expenses. That one gets updated constantly as well.

It seems to be working. What a relief of stress this is. I don't know why I didn't figure this out sooner, but I'm so thrilled that it is finally established.

Like I said, who knew?

Resolution Wednesday: 50 Weeks to Go

2012-01-18T07:07:00.003-05:00

Explanation of Resolution Wednesday's categories.

NOW I'm back on track and all my ducks are in a row! My weekly blogging schedule is working out fairly well. Sadly, I think my readers are bored. I'm getting almost no comments. Are you still reading? Of course, if you're not, then you wouldn't know I asked LOL!

So, AM I boring everyone? If so, some constructive suggestions would be useful. What brought you to my blog in the first place? Am I no longer writing the types of posts that will keep you reading? Please let me know and I will see what changes I can make. If I'm going to keep up with a blog so well (pats self on back--HA!), I'd like to know that others are finding it useful.

Now, on with this week's roundup:

Area 1: 2012 in 2012

Well, not zero! My total for this week is a whopping 32. But that's 32 less things cluttering up the house! After I finish going through my pathetic clothes (see yesterday's post), that number will most definitely swell.

Decluttered to date: 32
Amount still to go: 1980

Area 2: Weight

It's yo-yo time. UP 3 pounds. Probably retention.

Area 3: Long-term Goals

I have been working my new finances systems and I am on TOP of this, baby! ALL receipts are accounted for. ALL invoices are moved through their various stages. It's awesome. I might do a little post on this, but it's pretty much nothing new or earth-shattering. I just made the budgets in the three areas (household, family, business) and I'm actually keeping up with them. Who knew?

Area 4: Outdoor Time

Sure, as soon as I commit to this, winter finally arrives. We have had HIGHS of 2. Degrees. I have made it a point to "air" the house by cracking a window for five minutes each day to give a chance for the stale air to exchange with fresh air. Can I count the new air INSIDE the house as outdoor time?

Vintage Hygiene: Hands

2012-01-17T07:08:00.002-05:00

Source

There are four areas that receive our regular attention, our daily ablutions. They are: Hands, Face, Hair, and Body. Well, they are four areas that SHOULD receive proper attention!

This post is one of four in which I will share vintage advice regarding these areas. This was prompted by my walk down the aisles of the makeup and toiletries department of Walmart recently. There. Were. Too. Many. Choices! It made me want to run away. I bought an eyeliner and a bottle of makeup because I was out of both, but then I was out of there!

In the past it was harder for the companies to promote their products than it is now. The choices were limited. In fact, in one of my cookbooks from the late 70s, there is a picture of a pantry with labels of blank construction paper on the cans! Now when I go shopping, I feel overwhelmed and, frankly, annoyed.

When I saw an article from 1920 in the Vintage Notions book about care of hands, I thought it was refreshing and informative:

Try to feel pride in hands. A woman's hands are an expression of herself...they say..., "I am strong and useful and you can depend on me," [and] she has reason to be proud of them.
Gloves are your friend: rubber gloves for hot water, work gloves for rough things, warm gloves for winter.
To wash hands: use warm, not hot water and soften with a pinch of borax. (Really? I'll have to look into that.)
Apply soothing lotion after washing. (The book recommends using almond or olive oil, glycerin with lemon juice, or glycerin with rose water.)
Using an orange stick wrapped with cotton, dip in cuticle remover and run around the base of and underneath the nails, pushing the cuticle back and cleansing. Then rub on a little Vaseline to make them smooth and shiny.

Vintage Notions, page 26 and 75

I love that the first thing mentioned by the author is seeing our hands as something we need to care for because we depend so much on them. I also laughed about the gloves. I am the WORST about wearing none of the gloves mentioned. I have them, I just don't wear them!

I think I will fill bottles with some olive oil laced with lavender essential oil and put one at each sink. That sounds so soothing to my winter chapped hands. (I know, they wouldn't be that way if I would wear gloves!)

Next week: Vintage tips for the face.

Vintage Advice: Clothes

2012-01-16T07:46:00.001-05:00

Amazon link

Back in the summer, I mentioned a book that I was reading called Vintage Notions by Amy Barickman. (You can read my review HERE.) I recently came across the notebook in which I made notes from the book. There was a veritable treasure of inspiration and information in the book, which is a collection of articles from the 1920s. I decided that writing down those things that impacted me would help me remember them.

This week I decided to go through ALL of my clothes with a critical eye and pull together a real wardrobe for myself. All the ill-fitting, faded, stained, and never worn items are going out, I say! I'm a little fearful that there will be nothings left, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.

On page 18 of Vintage Notions, the author of the original 1920 article gave some guidelines regarding clothing choices. I summarized them in bullet fashion in my notebook and thought someone else might find them useful. As I said in my review, this book definitely earned its way into my permanent collection. I recommend it highly for those who enjoy the wisdom and the nostalgia of vintage times.

Buy wisely, and unless you have a definite use for an article, do not buy it.
Be slim by being trim.
Be attractive by being immaculate.
One of the greatest virtues of the right clothes, rightly worn, is that they enable us to forget them and ourselves.
When they are right enough for us to do this, we become our most likable and natural selves and, even if your features are not perfect nor perfectly assembled...[one day someone may whisper], "What a charming woman!"

With those thoughts in mind, I will look at my wardrobe carefully, find each useful piece, make sure it is (or by careful cleaning or mending) in excellent condition. I love the word "immaculate." That sounds crisp and fragrantly clean.

I will try my best to make sure that the clothes I keep are not only "immaculate," but also fit well enough that I really don't have to fidget with them. I HATE that.

Finally, I desire to go for the level of "charming" mentioned in the article. I even looked it up to make sure I knew exactly what I was working toward:

Extremely pleasing or delightful. Merriam-Webster

Hopefully not too tall of an order for me. I will do my best.

Gametime: What Meal is That?

2012-01-13T12:52:00.000-05:00

Shopping Results:

My grocery shopping this week added up to $26.99 for:

WEEKLY PURCHASES:

Lettuce
Milk

LOSS LEADERS:

Cucumbers
Bell peppers (not as great as summer, but a good winter price)
Broccoli slaw

NECESSARY ITEMS:

Lemon juice
Lime juice

GAME TIME!

This next section is for you to play. It's a guessing game I'm calling "What Meal is That?" Looking at the Entree ingredients, can you tell what I will be serving this week? Leave your guesses in the comments. The person with the most right answers each week will be featured on my sidebar with blog link!

This Week's Menus:
Friday: (too easy)
Entree: hamburger, seasonings, a grill involved
Addition: salad, green beans

Saturday: (Ridiculously easy.)
Entree: scallops, raw vegetables, sticks and a grill involved
Additions: brown rice

Sunday: (Finally, a bit of a challenge!)
Entree: chicken, garlic, broccoli, black olives, tomato sauce
Additions: salad

Monday: (Don't strain your brain on this one!)
Entree: beef roast
Additions: Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, cornbread

Tuesday: (Embarrassingly simple.)Entree: chicken, lemon juice, garlic, grill involved
Additions: bell peppers, brown rice

Wednesday:Entree: Leftovers (I've got an evening meeting)
Additions: salad

Thursday: (This one's a bit deceiving.)
Entree: large lettuce leaves, shredded chicken, salsa, brocco sprouts
Additions: A second one of the above

Resolution Wednesday: 51 Weeks to Go

2012-01-13T12:36:00.003-05:00

Explanation of Resolution Wednesday categories.

(I'm behind in my blogging schedule. Not a surprise, but I'm going to make amends now. This post is for Wednesday.)

Area 1: 2012 in 2012

Believe it or not (personally, I can't believe it), I have been too busy to declutter!!! My total items ousted is still at a round ZERO. Have no fear, this is one area I'm really good at LOL!

Area 2: Weight

DOWN 3.6 pounds

Area 3: Long-Term Goals

We've finally decided to look into refinancing our house. Our loan is for 6.35% and the current rate is less than 4%. My husband is doing all the phone calling and comparison shopping (yay!), so I don't know yet what the final decision will be. If it works as we HOPE it will, we'll be able to knock some money off and still pay the remainder of our house of fairly quickly. We shall see.

Area 4: Outdoor Time

This is harder than I thought it would be. I've managed 4 of the last seven days. I've got to remind myself to do it since it's not been a part of my life before.

Recommended EBooks--Part Two

2012-01-10T08:52:00.003-05:00

(I'm behind in my blogging schedule. Not a surprise, but I'm going to make amends now. This post is for Tuesday.)

This is the second post I'm doing about EBooks from my collection. The first post is HERE.

In this final part of my "series," I'm going to tell you about five ebooks that are for sale. Three are homeschool related and two are not. The "source" link under each picture will take you to the EBook's website.

First up is a spiffy little ebook that tells children how to make a web page. I snagged this version of it for ages 7 to 9. I figured that I would be able to understand it. When I looked up the website for linking, I discovered that they no longer have this particular edition, but have one that's more involved and gives the age range as "8 and up." The "and up" worried me a bit, but I can still manage the 8yo level so I decided to post about it anyway.

Source

This next EBook was wonderful. We both enjoyed the activities and thorough information about Columbus. The product description from the website says:

This unit begins with a 3-5 page fictional story which reveals true facts about the subject. It is followed by a variety of activities including: Daily Journal Questions for 15 days, Drawing, Science, Report Writing, Creative Writing, Poetry Writing, Vocabulary, Comprehension, Sequence of Events, Cause and Effect, Encyclopedia Skills, Bible Verse Activity, Map Skills, and a Craft Activity.

Source

I haven't used this EBook yet, but having come across it again I remembered why I wanted to keep it. I remember P.E. in elementary school. It really was a course in "Physical Education." This EBook gives lesson plans with the homeschooling family in mind. I think we'll be incorporating this one very soon.

Source

My parents weren't hippies...FAR from it. My dad, however, was from a generation that didn't think the doctor was the first place to run when common ailments came up. Therefore, I grew up with the understanding that many regular ol' sicknesses can be treated at home. Don't get me wrong, though. If something serious comes up, I have no problem going to the doctor.

This EBook gives some easy remedies for general ailment care. I tried my BEST to find it on the Internet but couldn't get a link for this particular PDF. The source link is for another of the author's EBooks entitled "Children's Cold and Flu Ebook." Perhaps she'll make this EBook available again if you ask her.

Source

This last recommendation is a beloved one. I have regularly used her recipes and enjoyed the results of near "instant" meals made possible by this type of batch cooking. It has definitely been worth the purchase price for me.

Source

Pie of the Month Club: Custard

2012-01-09T07:36:00.000-05:00

The month I've been waiting for! I am not a fan of berry pies. My husband and son have enjoyed their pies without having to share with me. But not this time!

This month I will be making a Custard Pie, the recipe from my 1956 edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. The picture above is not mine (see source), but it looks tasty like I hope mine will be!

Custard Pie (Rich, satiny smooth custard baked right in the crust.)

4 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 2/3 cups scalding hot milk *
1 tsp vanilla

* Use part cream for an extra rich pie.

Make pastry for one-crust pie. Line pie pan. Build up high fluted edge.

Beat eggs slightly with rotary beater. Then beat in remainder of ingredients. Pour into pastry-lined pie pan. Bake just until a silver knife inserted 1" from side of filling comes out clean. The center may still look a bit soft but will set later. Caution: Too long baking makes custard "water." Serve slightly warm or cold.

Temperature: 450 (hot oven) for 15 min., then 350 (mod. oven) to finish.

Time: Bake 25 to 30 minutes.

Note: Can be baked at 425 for same time.

REALLY COOL NOTE IN COOK BOOK (I may use this tip):

Slip-Slide Custard Pie

Follow the recipe above--EXCEPT bake crust and filling separately. Pour filling directly into ungreased pie pan of SAME size as the one in which the crust is baked. Set pan in shallow pan of hot water. Bake just until a silver knife inserted 1" from side of filling comes out clean. The center may still look a bit soft but will set later. When lukewarm, slip the baked filling into cooled baked pie shell. Allow to settle a few minutes before serving.

Temperature for custard: 350 (mod. oven)

Time: 30 to 35 minutes.

Gametime: What Meal is That?

2012-01-06T08:01:00.002-05:00

SHOPPING REPORT:

My grocery shopping this week added up to $68.67 for:

WEEKLY PURCHASE:
Milk
Apples
Bananas
Lettuce

LOSS LEADERS:
BLSL chicken
Beef Roast
Canned tomatoes (crushed, whole, diced)
Shrimp ($2.99/pound!)
Artisan bread (buy 1 get 2 free = .83 per loaf)

The meats marched that total right up there, but their prices were the rock bottom ones that I wait for to stock up.

GAME TIME!

This next section is for you to play. It's a guessing game I'm calling "What Meal is That?" Looking at the Entree ingredients, can you tell what I will be serving this week? Leave your guesses in the comments. The person with the most right answers each week will be featured on my sidebar with blog link!

This Week's Menu:
Thursday:
Entree: potatoes, corn, creamed corn, flour, butter, onions
Additions: artisan bread, salad

Friday:
Entree: ground beef, baked beans, cheese, flaky biscuits
Addition: salad

Saturday: (an easy one)
Entree: shrimp, salad
Additions: cheese, grits

Sunday:
Entree: ground beef, tomato paste, breadcrumbs, carrots/onions combo
Additions: potatoes, milk, sour cream, green beans

Monday: (Don't strain your brain on this one!)
Entree: Ham
Additions: Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, cornbread

Tuesday:
Entree: sweet potatoes, milk, curry
Additions: artisan bread, salad

Wednesday:
Entree: dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella, onions
Additions: salad

Thursday:
Entree: Leftovers! It's errand running/grocery shopping day.

NOTE:

Just FYI, my lunches are all leftovers from the previous night and my breakfasts are generally the following every week. Except for Sunday and Thursday, we eat together at the table for breakfast:

Sunday: Some type of sweet rolls and coffee--we have to leave early for church
Monday: Fried eggs, sausage or bacon, toast, citrus
Tuesday: Hot cereal and fruit smoothie
Wednesday: Scrambled egg sandwiches, citrus
Thursday: Cold cereal and citrus (DH leaves at 6:30--no table time!)
Friday: Pancakes or waffles, sausage or bacon, citrus
Saturday: Depends on what we're doing. Sometimes muffins, sometimes leftover pancakes, sometimes biscuits and gravy.

Cooking From the Pantry: 2012 Edition

2012-01-05T07:28:00.004-05:00

Source

I began this blog in 2008. My subject was cooking from my pantry with just a few purchases to keep us going. HERE is where you can read about that.

With the new year I've decided to shop in my own on-site markets again to save money and to use up the stock. This time, however, I'm going to change a few things.

I will purchase raw veggies for salads, apples, bananas, and milk each week.
I will ALSO take advantage of truly useful loss leaders at the two stores I frequent most. Just the truly useful ones, though.
I'm going to plan in the classic frugal meals (eg beans) right from the beginning rather than waiting until the last several days. My dh loves those kinds of meals, but I feel deprived.
I'm going to list my daily stock usage in a way that will give you opportunity to guess what meals I've come up with using those ingredients. I'm doing this for two reasons: Because it's fun and because you might make suggestions that I hadn't thought of for that particular food combination!

I will begin tomorrow and will go through February. Tomorrow's post will list my meals and my grocery totals. If you're up for some guessing games, come and see what you make of my un-named menus.

Resolution Wednesday: 52 Weeks to Go

2012-01-04T08:40:00.003-05:00

Explanation of Resolution Wednesday categories

A whole year stretched out before me. What a blessing! I fully intend to embrace my responsibilities and not shirk in any way on any of them. I will kick this off right with my first accountability post:

Area 1: 2012 in 2012

As of today, I have removed NOTHING. I've also brought in nothing, so we're still at zero. Just wait until you see next week's number, though!

Area 2: Weight

I started my day with Hot Lemon Water and 2 eggs. Exercise is next on my list, right after I finish this post.

Area 3: Long-Term Goals

I have totally redone everything there is to do with our finances. The results are so streamlined compared to what they were. I've determined that we have paid off 40% of our original debt which we began working on in May of 2010. That's amazing! We've increased the debt, however, by 8% thanks to the local "Deluge of the Century" back in the spring which wreaked havoc with our basement, roof, and ceilings. The fact that I know the exact figures is actually encouraging to me as we work our way through this. There will be some posts in the near future regarding my efforts to bring this down.

Area 4: Outdoor Time

Well, I picked a doozy of a day, yesterday, to spend a minimum of 15 minutes outside! The current temperature was . . . SIX. Degrees. I decided to walk around the yard and see what there was to see. I walked really fast. I was happy to see my nice little wood stove when I got back inside! Today is supposed to be warmer--a high of 20. I haven't decided what to do, yet.

Back just before Thanksgiving, I made a comment regarding my blogging schedule. I said,

I've decided that my "hit and miss" style of blogging is annoying me. I seem to write in a "feast or famine" style, churning out 5 posts in a row and then disappearing for 2 weeks. I don't like that. I've set up a tentative schedule that might work for me. I intend to blog five days a week, taking the weekends off. For my initial routine I'm going to try to write Monday's posts about something vintage, Tuesday's posts will be my Resolution Tuesday updates until the end of the year, Wednesday's posts I'm hoping to develop something along the lines of a series--short or long, Thursdays will be something about daily life that I just HAVE to share with you, and Fridays I'm hoping to do a sort of food report as I'm working through my food stock to reduce the amount of money spent for food. That's where I'm going to start (this week!), but I will adjust as I go.

Soon after I wrote that post, my sister and her family moved in. The fact that I blogged at all during that time was amazing because we were busy with multiple kids (did I mention one was an adorable baby?), homeschooling, cooking, the holiday activities, etc. In the back of my mind I remembered my blogging plans. Now I've revisited and tweaked them a bit. Here's my intended routine:

Monday: Vintage
Tuesday: Series-type posts
Wednesday: Resolutions update
Thursday: Musings, Daily Life Stuff, or just General Stuff
Friday: Food report
Saturday and Sunday: No posts

With this "Resolution Wednesday" post I'm right on schedule!

A New Year With New Resolutions

2012-01-01T07:29:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year, Y'all!

Quick update: My sister and her family closed on their house on December 30th. Friday and Saturday they were moving in. (I got to take care of the baby! BIG fun!) Sunday was church and then errands. Yesterday and today I'm catching up on things (laundry mountain being just one of them).

Yesterday I also spent many hours revamping the personal and business finances, prepping for taxes, and thinking about this year's resolutions.

I've come up with four for weekly reporting. Last year I called it "Resolution Tuesday." Most weeks it was AFTER Tuesday that I finally got my report done. So, this year I will be posting a "Resolution Wednesday." Why, you ask? Even if you didn't ask, here are the reasons why: My paperwork day is on Wednesday, Monday is usually a recover-from-the-weekend day, and Tuesday is the momentum day after Monday's big push!

This year's resolutions will be:

Area 1: 2012 in 2012
Because my sister's family moving in provided the big kick-in-the-pants I needed to get the basement in order (so my dh and I could sleep there), we actually have usable space down there again! Along with cleaning it up I discovered we had been packratting away down there.

Another pathetic area of clutter is our garage. Though it's mostly my dh's fault (really, it is!), I'm tired of checking my deed to see if the rumor that we have an attached 2-card garage is true.

With those two areas in mind, I am going to keep a running total of items that will be leaving my house. My goal is 2012 items OUT. If I bring things in, then the total will go back up. By the end of 2012, 2012 items will NOT BE ON MY PROPERTY!

Area 2: Weight
I really, really didn't want to put this one on. I'm so tired of my half-hearted efforts not rewarding me with spectacular weight loss. I'm tired of the embarrassment of reporting that I'm so not being faithful in this area. I decided that I still want this to happen and that I at least felt motivated enough to keep 7 pounds off last year.

I just need a new plan for reporting.

It will be a no excuse, no frills reporting. I will have a daily point system that will give a quick picture of how things are going. I'll post about that separately. Hopefully this will work better for me.

Area 3: Long-term goals (that are beyond a year's attainment)
I have two: The Yard Plan, and Reducing the Debt. I will report on those as there is something to report, perhaps a monthly instead of a weekly accounting.

Area 4: Outdoor Time
Don't laugh! I really mean this one. If it were totally my choice, I would never touch foot outside of a building. Too hot, too cold, too buggy, too humid, too many excuses! I absolutely know that it is good to be outside, both mentally and physically. My son is getting older and I don't want to miss the active stuff with him. (It might also help with Resolution Area #2!)

My plan is to spend AT LEAST 15-30 minutes outside EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I can spend more than that, just not less. Walking from the house to the car to the store does not count. It has to be purposely spending time in nature.

There. My resolutions for 2012. Are you making any? Will you be reporting on them regularly? If so, let me know.

With a new year, I needed a new logo for my weekly updates. Of course it had to be retro.

Resolution Tuesday: The Final Week

2011-12-28T20:46:00.000-05:00

And here we are. Three days and it's all over. I've decided that a weekly reporting made the year go faster than normal LOL!

This week's report will be a final recap:

Area 1: Weight

The final reckoning is 7 pounds remaining off as of the end of 2011. I'm sure I lost many more than that and then put them back on. But, the fact is that 7 STAYED off. 2012 will be a new effort in this area.

Area 2: Family

My "family" of seven will dwindle as of Friday. My sister and her family will close on their house then and will be sleeping there that night. Instantly we will be a family of three again, with no little baby. I will miss the baby! They won't let me keep him, though. Something about wanting him for themselves. A little selfish, if you ask me...

Area 3: Schedule

Now that the holidays are almost over, I'll be getting back to regularly scheduled life. We're settling in for the winter and I might possibly waltz more furniture around. HERE I talked about moving to our first floor leaving the second floor as storage, pretty much. We're going to be moving our wood stove to the first floor which should actually send some heat up to the 2nd. I JUST might consider moving the bedrooms up there again. We'll see.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

The ol' chassis is a year older now. There are new wrinkles, aches and pains. Things don't work exactly like they used to. New things have shown up that No One Told Me About. I don't consider myself a "clunker." No, I am now moving into "vintage." What does one do with a vintage vehicle? I'll tell you. It is garage-kept and given pristine care with the best fluids and fuels. There's also a lot of praise and appreciation. Sounds good to me!

Area 5: Debt

The dead part of the season is here, as far as my husband's work schedule goes. It's been a week now since he's had work. He saved back some chair repair jobs, etc. for this downtime, but there's still a hole until some work that he was able to schedule for January. Meanwhile, he's been doing repairs around the house. One year, and soon, the debt WILL be gone and this downtime in the work season will not be the same feeling as it has been. One year, soon.

Area 6: Garden

Put to bed and waiting for next year's plan. I already know some things I will NOT be planting. I'm also determined to learn all I can about growing tomatoes. Next year's goal is a HARVEST of those yummy things!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T07:16:00.001-05:00

As I've mentioned (maybe too often?), I'm originally from Florida. I was born and raised there and was in my early 30s when we moved Up North. Christmastime for me was very often sunny with crisp, clear temps in the 40s, or sunny with perfect temps in the 70s. Snow? Not so much. Flamingos, however--of course!

Many blessings to you and your families in this Christmas season!

Source

Pie of the Month Club: Cranberry Pie

2011-12-24T07:01:00.025-05:00

Source for Pic

This month's pie will be Cranberry Pie. The pie pictured is not my pie--it's a stunt double for the pie I WILL be making. I've linked the picture to its source, but I'm not using their recipe. Instead I will be using one from my 1956 edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. I plan to make it on Saturday and we will include it with our Christmas meal since it's red and all. (We also plan to make a Key Lime pie, so we'll have red AND green!)

Cranberry Pie (from down Cape Cod way)

Mix in saucepan:
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar (I'm going to go for the full 2 cups. They are, after all, cranberries.)
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt

Add:
3 cups halved cranberries
1/2 cup water

Bring slowly to a boil, and boil gently 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and blend in:
1/2 tsp. almond flavoring.

Pour into pastry-lined pie pan. Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it. (The picture above shows a center hole. That's kind of cool. I may do that.) Bake until crust is nicely browned. Serve slightly warm.

Temperature: 425 degrees
Time: Bake 30 to 40 minutes.

Laundry!

2011-12-22T07:56:00.003-05:00

I will confess--I like to do laundry. You feed in the dirty clothes, go away somewhere, come back after a while and they're all clean. In the past I've discussed my "Laundry Euphoria" and my love for hanging laundry to dry.

WELL, today I came across a blog completely devoted to . . . LAUNDRY! I was thrilled. I've just started to read through the posts, but I wanted to pass it along to others who enjoy this everyday task as I do. Click on the button below and see what inspiration you can find!

Click Here

Resolution Tuesday: 2 Weeks to Go

2011-12-20T22:14:00.000-05:00

TWO, count them, TWO weeks to go until 2011 is gone. What will 2012 bring?

Here's the second to last reporting of my 2011 goals and how they're going:

Area 1: Weight

Another year and a total of 7 pounds lighter. Seven. That's not all the pounds that have been lost, no. Those are the ones that stayed away once I banished them. That part is good...

Area 2: Family

We have completed three weeks of family togetherness with my sister's family. We're having a blast but they're eager to get into their own home. It looks like that won't be before Christmas, so Christmas will be at my house this year!

Area 3: Schedule

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!

Area 6: Chassis Maintenance

Can it GET any more dry? We have been using pots of water on our woodstove as well as humidifiers, but goodness! Of course, I have been drinking non-stop sweet tea and pretty much no water. Perhaps there lies the source of my pruniness?

Area 5: Debt

We've been minimal in our gift giving this year. For my husband's side of the family I scanned in all of my MIL's pictures and put them on a CD. This will be the second Christmas since she died and I thought it would be nice to have the collection available.

For my side of the family, I made a photo album of a selection of photos from mine and my sisters' childhoods. It turned out REALLY well. Snapfish had an offer for "buy one, get two free" so I took advantage of it. HERE is a link to that offer which is good until December 26, 2011.

Area 6: Garden

We finally got a load of manure for the garden. I never did get the cover crop planted, but I WILL be ready to do that next fall/winter. The fact that we were able to get the manure (for free!) was really great. We knew we didn't want horse, even though it was plentiful. My dh talked to a man a few streets over who raises 2-3 steers on his 3 acres each year (for their own meat) and he told him to help himself.

Maybe NEXT year the tomatoes will be happy enough to actually grow!

Resolution Tuesday: 4 Weeks to Go

2011-12-05T16:09:00.000-05:00

My sister, BIL, and their two kids (8yo and 7mo) have sold their house! They're also in the process of buying another one! The challenging part is that they had to move out on November 30th but won't be able to move in until the end of December. Meanwhile, they're technically "homeless," but not really. We believe that family takes care of family, so we now have seven living together in our house. The categories below will reflect aspects of this circumstance!

Area 1: Weight

Now I can blame my sister for my not losing weight. No? You mean it's not her fault that I am partaking of all sorts of delicious meals? Shoot.

Area 2: Family

As I mentioned above, family does what it can when family members are in need. This has been a golden opportunity for my son and his 8yo cousin to learn to get along better. They're still working things out LOL!

Area 3: Schedule

Despite the upheaval, we are all persevering with keeping housework under control and maintaining the homeschooling. It's been fun having a class with TWO kids in it! It certainly makes games and such easier.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I got a mani-pedi certificate for my birthday. I turned 24. Well, times two.

Area 5: Debt

We are now at 30% paid down. Slow going, but at least it's moving!

Area 6: Garden

We're looking for a source of free manure to till into the plots. We also talked about growing a ground cover for the winter. What suggestions would you have for a nutritious cover crop to be tilled in when spring arrives? We're in New England and I'm pretty sure that we're going to get snow at SOME point in the future!

Dancing With the 60s

2011-12-01T09:28:00.002-05:00

I am all about contributing important retro information to cyberspace. Without me, for example, would you have at your fingertips, er, toes, the dance steps for classics like The Hully Gully and The Mashed Potato? My 1963 issue of Life provided several dance moves in a Westinghouse ad which I've faithfully uploaded below.

I remember a reference book of just about everything that my parents had when I was growing up. In one section it showed the patterns for the waltz and the tango. I would practice them like it was serious business when I was about 10yo. Now I have NEW (old) steps to add to my repertoire in my 40s!

So, go and practice these so that you can be "groovy," too!

Many Blessings!

2011-11-24T06:58:00.002-05:00

Recommended EBooks--Part One

2011-11-23T07:57:00.004-05:00

In the last five years, I have collected an impressive amount of Ebooks. I have so many, in fact, that I haven't (gasp) read all of them. Nearly all that I have accumulated have been free downloads. I decided it was time to read 'em or toss 'em! They sit in my folder with the title READ that stares at me accusingly when I look at my desktop. I don't like to be accused.

That compelled me to start looking through them to see if they were worth keeping. I thought I'd share some of the ones that I found useful. The subjects run from Homemaking to Homeschooling, Money to Managing Child-Rearing. Maybe something I link to will be useful to others. The links to the downloads are beneath each cover picture. My next post regarding "Recommended Ebooks" will be ones that I've actually paid for!

Colossal Clutter Cleanup Link

Managing EBooks Link

Physics Exp. at Home Link

Thriving on Less Link

Time Management 101 Link

Resolutions Tuesday: 6 Weeks to Go

2011-11-22T07:18:00.003-05:00

Area 1: Weight

I'm scared. I love the holiday season. Love it. I also dread it because, of course, the holiday season is replete with dangerous landmines as regards weight loss. I do NOT want to end 2011 having lost ONLY FIVE FREAKIN' POUNDS! Not good. I'm an adult. I don't have any physical issues beyond being over 40. What IS my problem? It's rather embarrassing to have posted about this all year and have a measly five-pound-loss to show for it. I've overcome a lot of things in my life, but this one is kicking my butt. I don't have an answer to this for me, but I am determined to find one.

Area 2: Family

Thanksgiving is coming up this week, but I'm going to give some thanks right now.

I have a husband who is godly man, the epitome of a Southern gentleman, an amazing provider, loves me even when I'm not very lovable, and an amazing example of a husband and father for our son to emulate. I am a blessed wife.

I have a son who is not a follower. He knows his own mind (even at 2yo!) and has a sense of justice that will serve him well as an adult. He's very funny and very talented. He has a sweet spirit with no "jadedness." (Is that a word?) Last night at church he and a five-year-old boy were walking around holding the hands of an 18mo little girl. They were just walking around being careful with her and enjoying the fun around them. I can't remember and can't imagine life without him. I am a blessed mother.

That's not to say that they are not both very human. We all have are less-than-stellar moments. Doesn't matter. I'm thankful for their being in my life. My life is better because of them.

Area 3: Schedule

I have made it my daily purpose to attempt to work as diligently as I imagine Laura Ingalls Wilder's mother did. For example, they camped for a few days near a river and Ma's first job the very next morning (after breakfast and washing that up) was to get to the laundry. My first desire after traveling for days would be to sleep in, check my emails, and maybe go out for breakfast. I have been keeping Ma in mind as I embark on each morning's tasks. It's amazing how much work I have accomplished! I have it SO much easier with all the appliances, etc. Now I'm seeing some headway in the tasks that I've been putting off with the declaration that I "don't have enough time." Ma Rules!

I've decided that my "hit and miss" style of blogging is annoying me. I seem to write in a "feast or famine" style, churning out 5 posts in a row and then disappearing for 2 weeks. I don't like that. I've set up a tentative schedule that might work for me. I intend to blog five days a week, taking the weekends off. For my initial routine I'm going to try to write Monday's posts about something vintage, Tuesday's posts will be my Resolution Tuesday updates until the end of the year, Wednesday's posts I'm hoping to develop something along the lines of a series--short or long, Thursdays will be something about daily life that I just HAVE to share with you, and Fridays I'm hoping to do a sort of food report as I'm working through my food stock to reduce the amount of money spent for food. That's where I'm going to start (this week!), but I will adjust as I go.

SO, that means you have to (you must!) read my posts during the week but I'll let you have the weekend for other, less important activities like, I don't know, your own life. My blog is THAT important. (I see you rolling your eyes!)

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I've had issues with styes since I was 16yo. That first one appeared the morning of my FIRST DATE with my now dh. I slathered on the makeup and he didn't notice. I actually have a scar from that one! I've been reading up on natural ways to deal with them and thought I'd share some of the things I've done that seemed to help in the past.

Definition of stye and chalazion

If you are prone to them, gently wash eyelash area each morning with baby shampoo.

If one develops, use hot compresses to relieve pain and then use castor oil to help them heal. It works pretty fast when I do this.

If you develop a chalazion (which I had never heard of before until one showed up about four months ago), apply the castor oil several times a day, using a hot compress on top. So far the one I'm dealing with is still there, but I can tell that it's getting smaller. I have been doing this only at bedtime, but I'm hoping that several times a day will get this thing gone already!

Area 5: Debt

Two steps forward, one step back. Now our chimney might need a new liner to the tune of $1500. If we don't get it fixed, we'll have to get a drop of kero which would use up $1000 of that for this winter. If we go ahead and get it fixed, it's fixed and we'll use that source (wood stove) for the next however many years. The wood is all done (dh has worked from spring until today gathering it), so it's just this issue of the chimney. It may be one step back, but we're still doing the two steps forward!

Area 6: Garden

TODAY I am going to go ahead and process the Brussels Sprouts. That will mean we can completely put the beds, well, to bed for the winter. I've covered the areas with the compost I've been working on and a tiller should be available soon to turn it all under. I'm actually thinking about adding another bed. We'll see if we can get to that before the weather gets really bad. I have made copious notes of what I did and what I will NOT do next year. Maybe next year's efforts will produce better!

Vintage Thanksgiving Menus

2011-11-21T07:03:00.001-05:00

It's Thanksgiving week! I know everyone (in the US) is in the midst of making plans for this holiday time. Many are going for the family feast. In my November 1952 issue of Woman's Day, three levels of menus are suggested: Moderate, Cost-Cutting, and The Splurge. I'm going to include a few tempting recipes below the menus, just in case one strikes some one's fancy! (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

First we have the Moderate-Price Feast which includes a Mushroom Bisque and a Pumpkin-Chiffon Pie. Their calculation came to $1.35 per person. Of course, that was 1952.

The Cost-Cutting menu includes some things that I would consider pricey now. I'm assuming asparagus was easier on the budget back then? This menu includes Turnip Cubes in Mashed Potato Nests and Chili Sauce Mayonnaise. The price per person dropped to 95 cents.

Finally, The Splurge. It's clear that the oysters and avocados amped up the costs at $2.45 per person. Being a non-seafood eater, I'm unmoved by this menu except for the intriguing Double Corn Sticks and Frozen Nesselrode Pudding.

If you end up trying any of the following recipes, you MUST come back and tell me. Especially the Nesselrode Pudding!

RECIPES:

Mushroom Bisque:

Wash 1 pound mushrooms. Slice 6 small ones and reserve; chop remaining, including stems. Cook slowly with 1 small grated onion and 1/4 cup butter for 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Add 4 1/2 cups milk; cook until slightly thickened. If desired, add 1/4 cup sherry. Top with mushroom slices fried in margarine.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie:

Mix 1 1/2 cups gingersnap crumbs with 1/3 cup melted butter; pat into 9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes in moderate oven, 235 degrees; cool. Beat 3 egg yolks in double-boiler top. Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin, 1/3 cup milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. each ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Cook over boiling water until thickened, stirring constantly. soften 1 envelope unflavored gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add to hot mixture; mix well; then chill until it begins to set. Add 1/2 tsp. lemon extract. Beat 3 egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gradually beat in 1/2 cup sugar. Fold into mixture. Pour into crust; chill until set. Garnish with 3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped, and crushed peanut brittle.

Turnip Cubes in Mashed Potato Nests:

cook and mash 6 medium-size potatoes with 2 tablespoons butter and 1/3 cup hot milk. Season with salt and pepper. Form into nests on hot plates or platter. Fill with 3 cups hot, cooked, yellow-turnip cubes, seasoned with 2 tablespoons butter and salt.

Chili-Sauce Mayonnaise:

Mix 3/4 cup mayonnaise with 1/2 cup chili sauce. Use as dressing on lettuce wedges.

Double Corn Sticks:

Add 1/3 cup milk and 1 cup cream-style corn to contents of package corn-muffin mix. Bake in hot, greased corn-stick pans in moderate oven, 375 degrees, about 20 minutes.

Frozen Nesselrode Pudding:

Let 1 quart vanilla ice cream soften slightly. Add 1 cup minced, candied fruit (cherries, ginger, orange peel, lemon peel, or pineapple), 1/4 cup chopped, seeded raisin, and 2 tablespoons rum or 1 tsp. rum extract. Refreeze. Garnish with cherry slivers of angelica or citron. Buy 12 small macaroons to accompany pudding.

Magazine "recipes" just for fun:

Clover-Leaf Rolls:

Buy rolls. Allow 1/4 pound butter.

Candy Corn:

1/2 pound will be ample.

Results of Freezer Poll

2011-11-19T12:06:00.000-05:00

Link for pic

Two weeks ago I did a post HERE that asked you to vote on a poll about your level of freezer organization. I gave three levels:

Black Belt: Pristine organization with state of the art inventory method.

Brown Belt: Regular knowledge of the contents with no food waste providing easy meal planning.

No Belt: A frozen abyss.

78% identified their habits as being Brown Belt. 21% said "No Belt." No one claimed Black Belt, but the Brown Belt levels were pretty closet to being Black Belt, IMO.

I was very impressed that most are on top of this issue. I know for a fact that my meal planning is 100% easier when I know what I have in my stores (which is my current state of affairs!). I am now officially inspired to join the Brown Belts permanently. Thank you for the encouragement!

I would LOVE for one (or more) of you to write a post about your routine for keeping up with your freezer situation. Pictures would be nice, too. What about the challenge of having a frig/freezer only? If you do write a post, PLEASE let me know. I want to learn from those with experience!

The ULTIMATE Small House!

2011-11-12T15:06:00.001-05:00

If you've read here long you know that I'm intrigued with small houses. I like the idea of trimming things down and living simply while still maintaining comfort and function. (If you'd like to see other posts, click HERE.)

But this is too much, even for me! I saw a post on Yahoo about slim houses and this was one that was listed. It's actually an art project from what I can tell. The original website is HERE. EVERYTHING is slim. Wait 'til you see! Click on the link for the original website to see the interior. (My favorite picture is the bathroom.) You'll appreciate your own home so much more--no matter what square footage you currently have!

Pie of the Month Club: Southern Sweet Potato Pie

2011-11-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

This month's recipe is from this 1956 PICTURE cook book. I like this book. It has pictures! It also lays things out step-by-step with a starter recipe followed by many variations.
This pie is a good example. I haven't made it yet (today, perhaps?), but the "starter recipe" is for Pumpkin Pie. Beneath that are four variations:

1) New England Squash Pie
2) Southern Sweet Potato or Yam Pie (Yam. Makes me laugh every time I say it.)
3) Autumn Pumpkin Pie
4) Pumpkin Pie with Whipped Cream

You just follow the original recipe and make the changes according to the chosen variation.

As my husband chose the Sweet Potato version, I will list that recipe. (Once I've made it I'll come back with a taste report.)

Southern Sweet Potato Pie

1 3/4 cups strained mashed cooked sweet potatoes (I'm going to use canned)
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups milk
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 T butter, melted
Single crust for 9" pie

Preheat oven to 425. Beat ingredients together with rotary beater and pour into pastry-lined pan. (Tip from book: "For crispness, have bottom pastry a little thicker than 1/8".)

Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until a silver knife (Oh No! I have the fake stuff from Costco!) inserted 1" from side of filling comes out clean. The center may still look soft but will set later. Serve slightly warm or cold.

Next Month is Cranberry!

Freezer Poll--Come and vote!

2011-11-05T17:14:00.000-04:00

This could go either way. After you vote on this poll I could feel better or I could feel worse. Perhaps there are others who are less organized like I am or those who have conquered this area of homemaking. It doesn't matter, really, because I have a goal.

That goal is to work toward maintaining the inventory in my freezers!

So, here's the poll:

When it comes to the freezer above your frig and perhaps a separate deep freeze as well, do you know exactly what's in it at all times, right down to how many and the number of pounds or ounces?

Or, is it the black hole of the house where purchased food disappears, gets burned, and doesn't reappear until it's time to throw it away?

Or, are you generally aware enough of what you have stored in the cold regions that you can adequately keep the inventory moving and actually use what you've bought to (gasp) feed your family?

Though I have managed to have an (almost) perpetually clean frig, I am in a galaxy far, far away from having my freezers functioning as they ought. It's kind of pitiful.

This week I have cleaned (again), and inventoried (again), these areas. My goal is to cook out of my pantry and freezers with minimal store purchases from now until Christmas. Perhaps THIS time I can maintain the whole process in a brand new way through the next two months . . . and beyond!

Resolution Tuesday: NINE Weeks to Go!

2011-11-01T08:04:00.001-04:00

Nine. NINE! Craziness.

Area 1: Weight

[Crickets]

Area 2: Family

I'm currently a single mom. I have seen my husband approximately 22 minutes in the last four weeks. He's TRIPLE booked with everyone wanting their painting done before the holidays. This happens every year and I always think I can handle it. Then, along about the 3rd week of this, I start getting grouchy! In a small way I have an inkling of an idea what women whose husbands are deployed or on the road feel. Bless you, those of you who deal with this!

Area 3: Schedule

I've actually been doing some small jobs for my husband to free him up to do the more detailed work this past week. I've been doing hard labor with much cozying up to the heating pad at bedtime and not even an ounce has budged. The only thing that has ever worked for me for weight loss is to cut out the sugar and grains. Fast food (which I've been using plentifully this week) is not the place to go to get rid of sugar and grains!

My son has been doing schoolwork while I've been peeling wallpaper. I've been listening to him read about the Civil War and Isaac Newton. This isn't my preference for homeschooling, but we've made it work in this unusual circumstance!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

Winter dryness is setting in. I've armed myself with a bottle of lotion and chapstick on my bedside table. It's time to get out the humidifiers, too. To help reduce the microbes in the air (and hopefully ward off some potential cold bugs), I add Tea Tree or Lavender essential oils to the water. THIS website listed some great ideas about using essential oils in this way.

Area 5: Debt

Except for this week of pitiful fast food, we've been faithfully NOT going to restaurants since we came back from our trip in September. It feels REALLY good not plunking down $40-$50 each Sunday!

Area 6: Garden

A deer (I think) has been munching on my Brussels sprouts! It took a couple of days for me to realize that there were some plants missing. I finally counted them and figured out someone was topping them off!

I harvested the cabbage and celery today and will chop and freeze them tomorrow afternoon. One bed is pretty much ready to turn under for the winter. It wasn't as successful as I had hoped, but it wasn't a failure, either. Live, take notes, and learn!

Vintage House Plans: The Cleverlay

2011-10-30T15:25:00.002-04:00

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you will remember that I am a big fan of small spaces. I've reduced our living area by about 700sf and am always decluttering and reorganizing to see if I can't make things more efficient and compact.

One of my favorite catalogs to thumb through is my 1919 copy of The Famous Fifty and other Favorite Homes Built by the Sterling System. It is FULL of small houses that were built with good-quality materials. I've given other information about this company and featured a couple of their plans HERE.

Today's focus home is The Cleverlay. It's a whopping 1008sf with three bedrooms, a large living room, and a sweet cottage exterior with shakes. Click on the photo and you can read all the wonderful details that come with the package. It says that two men could build this house in 17 days. That's with cedar-lined closets, mind you!

The price for the HOUSE (not the plans!) was $891.00 If one were to pay cash, the price would be reduced to $846.45. Not bad for 9 foot ceilings, oak in the living area and putty to fill up the nail holes!

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

2011-10-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

If not, Kemi Quinn has just what you need, for free! Kemi is the author of the blogs Vintage Homemaking and Homemaking Organized.

Last year I pointed you to her Vintage e-book planner that is still available. Click on the image below.

THIS year, she's created another free ebook that includes 150 free organizing printables for your planning notebook! Click on the picture below for this wonderful gift.

On my sidebar is a link to her Vintage Planner that is available for purchase. I've been using it and it is excellent!

Please visit her sites and enjoy her wonderful collection of information and tips from the past and present. Get a cup of tea because you'll want to settle in and read!

Wisdom from Mamie and Ike

2011-10-21T17:25:00.003-04:00

Their wedding portrait

I recently finished reading Mrs. Ike written by Mamie Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan Eisenhower. It was a VERY enjoyable read, all 339 pages of it!

I thought I'd share a short list of quotations from the book that I especially liked. I thought you might enjoy reading them as well:

Mamie said, "...tired bedroom slippers and runover heels were a sure way to lose a husband, whether one realized it or not..."

Mamie ...was a great believer in always dressing up for her husband, never allowing him to see her when she wasn't looking her best. She would even change for dinner in the evenings--either into a cocktail dress or, if they were being more informal, into a long flowing caftan or tea gown.

Once when Mamie kept Ike waiting, it went like this: Ike said, "You have kept the president of the United States waiting!" To which she retorted, "Oh, I thought I was dressing for my husband."

Ike said, about the Kennedy administration, "I am sick and tired of hearing alleged leaders scoff at a balanced budget...Is it so wicked to show some respect for the pioneer qualities of thrift and energy?"

Their granddaughter said after Mamie died, "Though enormous gains have been made for women especially, a great deal has been lost for us all. The focus on family and friendship that had once been of paramount importance has taken second place in our busy and harried lives. This has been one of our country's greatest losses."

Mamie in her inaugural gown:

The golden years:

Resolution Tuesday: 11 Weeks to Go

2011-10-20T10:07:00.000-04:00

Area 1: Weight

Up a pound this week. Boo. Today I'm determined to stay on track.

Area 2: Family

My husband has been working VERY long hours. I've barely seen him. Son and I are deep into 4th grade subjects. In fact, we're just reenacted the Battle of Antietam (Civil War) with his bears. I don't like the big push toward getting the exteriors done before really bad weather sets in. (My husband is a paint contractor.) In another month, though, we should see more of each other. Looking forward to that.

Area 3: Schedule

That has been put on hold this week as I slog through the mountains of business and personal paperwork. I allowed myself to slack off and now it's time to get back on track with this as well! I take breaks to arrange bears to fight battles.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

My chassis has been neglected. Today I plan to color my hair so I don't look like my 75yo mother. SHE looks great in the grey--me, not so much! On Saturday my husband and I put in a snap-together Pergo-type floor in our living room. The amazing news is that it was completely free! The painful news is that my entire body wanted to know WHY I would squat like that for 8 hours. My hair hurt. I'm better now.

Area 5: Debt

Here is where I've been spending my time this week. I'm working on revamping everything. I try to do Dave Ramsey's budget and find that we've cut everything to the bone already. It's the stinkin' debt payments that're eating us alive. Thankfully the interest is 0% on two and 4% on the third, but the amount that goes out each month as the minimum plus some is staggering. When we get rid of this debt, we will NEVER go into debt again! In fact, we had NO debt until we were in our mid-30s with many circumstances converging to cause a huge debt load. I'm more than ready to get back to that level of freedom.

Area 6: Garden

Someone (a deer?) has been eating our Brussels sprouts plants! I'm trying to let them grow a bit longer to get them to a good size. I'm going to harvest the cabbages and celery this week, I think. They don't appear to be much bigger than they were a month ago, so I will go ahead and get them in before a real frost hits.

A rather "heavy" list this week--sorry about that. I'm just reporting in. In the next few days I will make it a point to do some nice posts that are cheerful and vintage-y. Meanwhile, back to work I go!

Pie of the Month Club: Superb Cheese-Apple Pie

2011-10-08T20:51:00.000-04:00

Have I got a pie for you! I made this once before (but I can't find that I blogged about it). It came from my Gem of a Cookbook and it was absolutely divine!

I never understood the whole cheese-with-pie phenomenon that I encountered when I moved Up North until I tasted this recipe. It just does something magical to the whole flavor. This will be October's offering.

Superb Cheese-Apple Pie

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 T flour
1/8 tsp. salt
1 C grated cheese (I used cheddar)
5 C prepared apples
2 tsp. lemon juice
3 T heavy cream

Start heating oven to 425. Place a crust in the bottom of a 9" pan.

For the filling: Combine sugar, flour, salt, 2/3 C cheese; sprinkle lined pie plate with half of mixture. Heap apples on top; sprinkle with lemon juice, rest of sugar mixture, then remaining 1/3 cup cheese and cream. Adjust top crust.

Bake at 425 40-50 minutes, or until filling is tender, crust nicely browned. Especially nice served warm.

The apples are coming from a bushel that my husband brought home from a neighbor's trees. They're a mix of sweet and tart apples. Since I will be using about 6-8 apples for the pie, the rest of the bushel are awaiting their purpose in becoming apple sauce, apple juice, and a bit of apple butter, if I'm up to it!

Tomorrow afternoon will see my kitchen in full-production mode. Since it's Sunday, I'll have to fend off more than one set of fingers attempting to taste everything! My son will have to share his usual solitary position with my husband. Seniority may reign, but my husband IS a generous man.

Resolution Tuesday: 13 Weeks to Go

2011-10-04T07:20:00.000-04:00

Our leaves are changing rapidly. They're also starting to fall with the rain we've been having. I guess Autumn is here.

Area 1: Weight

Can I get a Woo Hoo? 3.4 pounds down! That means the 2 I gained on vacation PLUS another 1.4! (Notice that I completely believe in decimals and NOT rounding when it comes to weight loss.)

Area 2: Family

Structure, structure, structure. For us, anyway. It always seems like complete flexibility would be the better and more fun thing (been dealing with that all my adult life), but I love how much we accomplish and how rested we feel when we get up after a good night's sleep and get right to our responsibilities. It makes the evenings more enjoyable because we've actually completed a lot in today that doesn't have to be pushed over into tomorrow and we're tired enough to just go to bed without wanting to "veg."

Area 3: Schedule

We officially started school yesterday (wonderful first day!) and already we're taking a field trip. We're going to a local museum that offers classes for school groups and homeschoolers and today is our day. It gives us our "state" credit and we're getting it in before the more challenging (like the way I said that?) weather sets in. I'm going with my sister, niece and nephew.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

A lighter chassis today! I'm so thrilled that I moved downward again. Lots and lots of salads, lots and lots of water and some exercise. Continuing this is always the challenge.

Area 5: Debt

Slogging away on this. The museum we're going to today will cost me a whole $5. I have a school budget and this activity is kind to that budget!

Area 6: Garden

So far all the winter crops are stilling hanging in there. We've had a ton of rain for the last few days and it's been in the 40s and 50s. The next dry day we're going to turn over the plot that's done with some (homemade!) compost and put it to bed for the winter.

Resolution Tuesday: 14 Weeks to Go

2011-09-29T21:06:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm back. I'm glad to be back, too. I love traveling, but I'm always happy to get back into the routine of every day life.

Since we took this educational trip, we delayed starting the homeschooling. In fact, we're not officially starting until Monday, Oct. 3rd. We were so immersed in the time period from 1607 to 1781 that we were a little glazed over on the way home. It was fantastic, though!

My plan to start NEXT week came from the extreme need to get the house in order THIS week. Fall cleaning, aka "Brawn Week" has been fully embraced. The only thing we have left to do is the upstairs (2 bedrooms and the master bath). It always feels so good to do this and I'll feel better able to concentrate on the schooling. This year will be more intense than ever as my son is in 4th grade.

I hope you enjoyed my "Classic" posts. I appreciate all the comments and will be responding to those very soon. Now to catch up on my resolutions:

Area 1: Weight

I gained ONLY 2 pounds on the trip. I say this because I recognize that it would probably have been more like 5 pounds if I hadn't done so much walking. Hours and hours of walking. Hours.

Area 2: Family

It's always interesting when we spend 24 hours a day together. New dynamics exist and I find myself bouncing between relaxing because someone else is there to take charge and trying to take charge because the someone else doesn't do things my way! Mostly it's so wonderful because we can just be together with no other responsibilities pulling us apart. This makes for great memories for all of us.

Area 3: Schedule

As I mentioned above, I'm nearly finished with Fall Cleaning and will be back in the regular routine come Monday.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

Do you know what happens to hair that is dipped into chlorinated water alternating with sea water and then washed in hard water? Straw. We all had straw hair. That's ok. My son learned to really swim this trip and that is nothing short of a miracle considering his stark fear in the past! Besides, all the chlorine and salt and minerals are now washed out with lots of conditioner making up for it.

Area 5: Debt

This trip was about 60% prepaid over the last few months. That helped a lot in our financial situation upon returning. We're determined to really attack the debt in a fast in hard way. One of the areas will be decreased (to, like, 0%) eating out. My post on Sunday Dinner reminded me of my original plans in this area.

Area 6: Garden

The first day of Fall Cleaning I spent outdoors getting the garden in order and cleaning up the summery areas (like the pool). We still have cabbages, Brussels sprouts, and celery going well. One lonely tomato plant is trying and a couple of pepper plants still look healthy. I'm making notes on all my mistakes and will definitely get things together EARLIER for next season.

And how was your week?

Classic H of H: Boys, Girls, and Toys

2011-09-25T09:29:00.001-04:00

This is Part 2 of my post about Custer. Have you found similar boy vs. girl situations? I think it's hilarious!

Remember Custer?

The other night when we found him (again), I asked my husband (again) WHY we still have him, especially since he's "broken." He has moved with us to five houses in two different regions. (The answer was that he's been saving him for J.)

The thing that bothered me most, though, is that Custer has always had a missing hand. For the first time in all these years it occurred to me to question the loss of the general's hand.

So, I questioned. "Why is he missing a hand?"

My husband demonstrated the cause for me. He picked up Custer, slung him up into the air and watched him land a few feet away. Evidently little boys wield their dolls as weapons.

Oh. So that’s what happened.

Well, being a girl and all, I was aghast. Custer’s bodily harm coming from such a violent act never even crossed my mind. That’s because I’m a girl, apparently.

L continued to describe the punishment meted out to poor George. He was pelted with dirt clods, he was crushed with rocks, and abused with countless other attacks.

I decided to perform a sociological experiment by polling two young people (one male, and one female) about a single toy. You'll probably recognize them.

Me: "J, would you like to take Custer outside and throw snowballs at him?"

J: "YES! That sounds like fun."

Me: "Miss Girl, what would you do with a boy doll?"

Miss Girl: "I would dress him in boy doll clothes and feed him."

You see the discrepancy. I wondered if other families encountered the same differences. We checked with Uncle B, Miss Girl's daddy. He has a sister. Here's a pic from just a few years ago:

Uncle B gave this description of his boyhood with an army of GI Joes:

"My GI Joes beat up my sister’s Ken doll, stole her Barbie car and went on many aqua missions in the pool. Once, I took my sister’s Barbie, bound and gagged her, then tied her to a tower. I DID bring in the patrols to rescue her."

We called Uncle B’s sister to get her side of the story:

"I didn’t want to play with the GI Joes. They were ‘nasty boy toys.’ One had a beard that was especially disturbing. I had texture issues. I remember the troops invading my Barbie Dream House. Did they ever take the elevator? No. They always rappelled down the side. Sometimes I would find booby traps. I did get even once by putting makeup on one of them…"

So there you have it. Boys and Girls just do not play with the same toy the same way.

Are you surprised?

Classic H of H: Summer Tomatoes in the Middle of Winter

2011-09-24T09:15:00.002-04:00

My tomatoes were pathetic this year. The day before we left on our vacation, I was annoyed that I might have to go another year without fresh tomatoe sauce, etc. from the summer put up in the freezer for the winter. I stopped by a farm stand "just to see." They had flats of tomatoes looking red and delicious and, well, I bought a flat! I knew I did NOT have time to turn them into sauce and salsa and all, so I checked online and learned that I could freeze them as they were! I quickly washed them, cored them and removed any bad spots. Then I cozied them all up on baking sheets, covered them up snugly...and just stuck them in the freezer!

From what I read, I should be able to take them out and process them into whatever saucy thing I want, as I want it. I'll report back on that later when I find out if they were telling the truth!

Trixie at Farm Home Life sent out a lament into cyberspace--the desire for a summer tomato. My voice joins hers. There is NOTHING like a summer tomato, especially warm from the sun as you pick it off the vine.

In the past, I've had a fairly satisfactory solution:

Many summers I have taken those lovely tomatoes and turned them into something I call "Raw Tomato Soup." I didn't want to process the tomatoes because the flavor, though delicious, would not be that from-the-vine flavor.

What I did was actually pretty simple (read lazy). I washed the tomatoes, cutting out any bad spots. Then I dipped them quickly into boiling water and peeled off the skin.

Next (now pay attention), I blended them with my food processor But. Not. Too. Much. I didn't want puree or even sauce. I wanted small chunks with lots of liquid.

Ready for the final step? I poured the tomatoes into glass jars and FROZE them!

In the middle of winter, I thawed a jar (hint: use wide-mouth jars in case you don't get around to thawing them in time for your meal so the partially thawed mixture slides out), dumped it into a pot to heat up, added a little salt and pepper and had the closest thing that I could get to those summer tomatoes.

You do what you have to when it comes to something this important!

Classic H of H: Vacation Budget--50s Style

2011-09-23T09:10:00.003-04:00

I didn't follow Mona's advice completely, but I definitely made really good strides in preparing for THIS vacation. Many things were paid ahead of time and we've been packing snacks and lunches from the grocery store each day. For supper I've been cooking easy meals at the hotel. I did a lot of research online and saved on tickets and accomodations. When I return, I'll share about the Williamsburg portion of the savings for those who might be able to use them.

(The picture above comes from a post about vintage picnic baskets. Click on the picture to read the post.)

Tonight my husband and son wanted to look at the stars. It's clear and cold--perfect viewing. I stayed inside. I'm not crazy--it's NEGATIVE SIX degrees Fahrenheit out there!

Inside my nice cozy house (where sane people are), I was reading more of my January 1953 issue of Woman's Day. A reader (lovely Mona from Kansas) wrote in to talk about how her family budgets for their summer vacation. It seemed appropriate to be thinking ahead and planning for those summer months in January. Saving up takes time!

Here's the wisdom that Mona shared (my notes are in italics):

I'm wondering how many of the neighbors are already looking forward to and dreaming of a wonderful vacation next summer. I'm also wondering just how many of them are giving up the idea as "much too expensive" for their tight family budgets. (Sound familiar in 2011?) That was our first sad impression. It wasn't just the money for the gas and oil and lodgings, although those did have their place in our thinking, of course. What really worried us was the eating out on the trip. (Mona, you don't EVEN know about how expensive eating out will become!) We considered the problem and decided on a plan of action.

We buy our groceries by the week; so each week we buy something and put it away in our "July Picnic Basket." One week it is canned luncheon meat, (Mona, honey, Underwood Deviled Ham is for rich people now.), another week canned fruit, or pork and beans, or shoestring potatoes. (Does she mean those crunchy, greasy shoestring potatoes in a can? Anyone know what I'm talking about?) We plan to add pickles and jar cheeses (Mmmm--Cheez Whiz. Now there's some tasty fake food!) toward the last, also paper plates and cups and some plastic spoons. We try to keep our purchases around the fifty-cent bracket. (Wonder what the equivalent would be today?)

We also have a "Fun Bank" started. Each week when we come home from shopping, we put all our change in this bank. We also allow an estimated amount in our budget for utilities. When the utilities run under the amount allowed, we add the difference to the bank. We feel that by July we will have enough in our Fun Bank, along with our regular budget amounts for our milk, groceries, and gas for two weeks, for traveling expenses. We feel sure our Picnic Basket will be just bursting with goodies to be used. And if our trip should have to be cancelled, we will still have something that will help the family larder in the months ahead. Meanwhile, we are planning our best vacation ever! (And I'm sure it was!)

- Mona C., Merriam, Kansas

It's intriguing to think of slowly stockpiling non-perishable foods over the months in preparation for a vacation. We use our camper, so I know just where to store everything. I'll have to tweak those food choices a bit, though . . .

Classic H of H: Tell Me About Your Kitchen

2011-09-22T09:08:00.000-04:00

The place where we've been staying since Sunday does not have WiFi. I put up several Classic H of H's a few days ago when we took the computer to a WiFi hot spot. This morning I arranged it so that I had a long breakfast (at Chic-Fil-A!) where my ds could play and I could catch up on things. I've enjoyed reading everyone's great comments and will comment back when I have full-time internet. Meanwhile, I'm going to add the remainder of the posts that I thought would be fun to read again. Like this one!

I love to look at pictures of kitchens. I especially love looking at all the details and seeing something that would work in my kitchen. That got me thinking about my kitchen. Immediately I thought about its faults. Isn't that how it seems to go? (At least I tend to do that.)

I decided to do a "5 - 5 - 5s" of my kitchen. I'd start with what I love, mention the things that bother me, and then dream a little. All in fives.

Here's a picture of my kitchen. A couple of things have changed. For one, I have a new (white) stove. I also moved my toaster oven to a little (unpictured) hutch that is on a tiny wall near the basement door. In its place is my 1982 stand mixer. Take note of the light fixture in the ceiling. It does not amuse me as you'll read in my notes below.

My 5 - 5 - 5s

Five Things I Love About My Kitchen:

Not too big, not too small--As long as there are no more than two of us working in it! When it's just me, I don't have many steps to walk to get things. When there are two of us, there's still room to work as long as you designate areas.

Window over the sink--Though not necessary, I do like being able to see into the back yard. I especially like when snow is floating down softly in the winter.

Centralized--The open layout of this side of the house makes it appear bigger than it really is. The kitchen is right in the center of the house, which makes for easy access.

My new stove--I finally got a new stove after 10 years of dealing with the old one's oven being less than it should be. It was actually from a model mobile home, so it had been used to heat food for the realtor on occasion. The oven had NEVER been used. It's also white. The one pictured above is the old one that was almond.

My dishwasher--I hate to wash dishes by hand. "Why" is a whole other post, but suffice it to say that my husband installing it ONE WEEK after we moved in shows how high on the priority list it was for me!

Now for the (sadly) easier list.

Five Things I Dislike About My Kitchen:

The stove is slap up against the refrigerator--Normally there's at least a small counter with a bit of storage between the two, but there's just no room for that. It has bugged me from the moment we moved in.

The tile floor--This I absolutely hate. It desperately needs replacing but that's just not going to happen any time soon.

The lighting--It just isn't quite right. I'm not sure what to do about it, but it doesn't give me a sunny, warm feel. If you feel that your kitchen is a warm, inviting place and it has something to do with your choice of lighting, please share. I am at a loss how to make that happen in my kitchen.

Too few cabinets--It really could use more. I've already pared down on the storage and provided a free-standing unit to help, but just a smidge more cabinet storage would make things more practical.

I don't have a number five--Which is good. The other four, though, are really annoying!

Five Things I Would Like to Have in My Kitchen (aside from the above issues):

A refrigerator with the freezer on the bottom and double doors on the top--I really, really do want this. I can't complain about my frig, though. We've never had to pay for one. When the frig that was here when we moved in died, a customer of my husband GAVE him their old one when they remodeled their kitchen. Free is good!

A vacuum unit in the kickspace area--This is a luxury thing that would be so useful. Imagine sweeping up the kitchen with the little pile near the kickspace, flipping a switch, and having it all sucked away! No bending with the dustpan. How's that for lazy?

A vintage linoleum--One that is all one piece with no grooves or textures to trap dirt. I'd even wax it when it needed it!

A way to separate the kitchen--Though it's nice that mine is centralized, sometimes it really would be nice to just close it away and not look at the mess when we're eating! Since I moved the dining area into the living room (click to see photos), that's less of a problem, but it would still be nice.

Completely new cabinet fronts--Ours our a bit cheezy. They're thin and badly made. My husband can do this, but, you know (no time, money's tight, yada, yada). I'd want highly washable white paint. I'd want it so highly washable that the dirt wouldn't even stick. It would just slide right down to the floor and get sucked away by my kickspace vacuum!

I would love to hear your 5 - 5 - 5's of your kitchen. Do a post about it, let me know, and I'll link to you. Pictures would be nice, too!

ETA:

Melb2005 at The Southern Housewife posted her "5 - 5 - 5's" about her kitchen that is my kitchen's twin! You can see her pictures and comments HERE.

Trixie at Farm Home Life also posted her "5 - 5 - 5's." Click HERE and enjoy her sunny kitchen.

Classic H of H: Graceful Aging?

2011-09-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

I would still like to hear more comments regarding this. I'm staring down the hallway at 50 and have more to say about this subject when I return home. Please comment. It would help me to hear your thoughts.

Have you thought about what you'll be like when you're 70? Have the older women in your life been good role models in regards to how to age gracefully?

I'll give you two examples of women in their 70s from my own experience: My mother-in-law and my mother.

My MIL died in May. When she was young and middle-aged, she was a beautiful, accomplished, generous, lady-like ball of energy. She taught school full-time, sang with a local opera company, and was always dressed impeccably. She was a great mom to her two kids. In the last 10 years before she died at 72, she made choices about her quality of life that led to her becoming a severe alcoholic. She did NOT want to be old and did not want to live anymore. She shoved everyone around her out of her life, including her only grandchild.

My mother grew up in poverty. She quit school in the 10th grade. She had her first child when she was 17 (married a guy to get herself out of that poverty), and then walked away from that marriage because he was abusive. What she did was NOT common back in the 60s, but she determined to make her and her daughter's lives better. She met my dad and married him and it took a few years before she stopped being in "survival mode." My dad provided the stable life that she had never had before. She did OK as a mother, but it definitely could have been a more enjoyable experience for both her and her children. She's 74 now. Do you know what her latest comment to me was? "It's all in the attitude. I see women around me that are my age who are barely living. I'm not going to do that!"

What about you? What about me? The decisions we make NOW will affect who we will be in our later years. Our early life experience doesn't have to dictate the future, nor do the changes of life have to cause us to stop living a full life.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well as any examples of positive aging you've encountered, please. Then I think I will print them out and put them in a safe place to read as I age!

Classic H of H: Sunday Dinner

2011-09-20T08:26:00.000-04:00

Rereading this post has rekindled my desire to make the family portion of Sunday more memorable. It's also useful because we are working very hard to cut out restaurant meals for health and financial reasons!

I have been thinking about Sunday Dinners for quite a while. Back in the day, folks would go to church and then head home with extended family and friends to eat lunch together. The meal would be "Sunday fare" (like fried chicken, not sandwiches!) and somehow it all worked.

Many years ago my husband was a full-time pastor in a tiny town in the Florida panhandle. The church was small and made up of about three major family groups. There were two matriarchs: "Miss Ruby" and "Miss Edith." I'm not sure what Miss Edith did after the service, but Miss Ruby, et al had a routine that had been honed by decades of practice.

Any and all were invited to come. It never mattered how many--there was always plenty of food. Miss Ruby was a widow and lived by herself on a bay five miles up from the Gulf of Mexico. The view was splendid. On her enclosed porch was a giant table with many mismatched chairs. By the time my husband and I arrived after church, the process of getting lunch was already in high gear. Everyone had a job and everyone knew what to do, from the oldest to the youngest. I tried to pitch in, but they shooed me off to the living room where the men were sitting in their easy chairs talking about hunting. Good times.

Within 30 minutes there was fried something as the main course. Each week was different: chicken, chicken-fried steak, mullet and mullet roe--choice of red or white. (I'll talk about the roe in a minute.) Then there were several sides, one always being hush puppies. Another constant was FRESH scraped corn, sweet and creamy. With that was the tall glass of sweet tea in the heavy green glass (similar to the picture at right). The finale? Banana pudding or some other fantastic southern dessert.

HOW DID THEY DO THAT? It never crossed my mind to ask and now I want to know! (I do know a little about hunting, though, thanks to the living room conversations.)

I am restricted by time and location in a way those ladies weren't. They lived five minutes from church. We live 30 minutes away. They knew that church would be done at 12:00 on the dot and they hustled home. We never know when church will end--sometimes quite late. By then we're starving!

Because of our circumstances of distance and time, we eat out every Sunday. Despite that, I am still intrigued with the idea of making a "Sunday Dinner" once in a while, inviting folks to join us.

To that end I've been pondering menus and came across this book:

It just arrived today. If I manage to gear up and actually accomplish this Sunday Dinner thing, you know I'll blog about it!

Does anyone have actual experience with being in on that level of Sunday food prep? How was it accomplished? Were things done ahead of time? Keep in mind that Miss Ruby never used a crockpot or microwave. Miss Ruby was around 80 at the time. That was over 20 years ago. I don't think I'll be able to call Miss Ruby for help. However, I will always remember her as an example, a standard, if you will.

To Miss Ruby, Sunday Dinner hostess extraordinaire!

(PS--About that Roe. The red roe is fish eggs. The white roe was the other item needed to make baby fish. Each type came encased in a sac which was breaded with cornmeal and deep fried. Though there were no 10-foot poles about, I managed to never touch the stuff. I'm talented like that.)

Classic H of H: Custer's ACTUAL Last Stand

2011-09-19T08:02:00.000-04:00

(This is one of my favorites. My husband and son helped me on this post and we had a blast together. I'm glad to offer this "Paul Harvey" moment for those who want to know.)

My husband had a Custer doll when he was a boy. He saved it and it has made many moves with us. We were cleaning his workshop last winter and Custer, once again, surfaced.
When J (our son) was two, we tried to give him the Custer doll. His response? "NO, THANK YOU!" with an edge of fear in his toddler voice. When we found the doll this last time, J was six. It seemed like it was time to thrust Custer into the heat of battle again.
Flamboyant in his prime, Custer has now come to an acceptance of his purpose. He is stoic. (BTW, he's single...)

Several years ago (with that OTHER little boy) he sustained an injury that cost him his hand. No matter. He's prepared to do what he needs to do.

Our brave hero makes a declaration, hand raised in defiance: "I Will Prevail!"

A blast of snow takes him down.

Custer struggles to his feet, the weight of heavy snow on his shoulders. His arm still raised in a gesture of bravado. What's this? OH NO! It's the Leaf of Doom!

Our brave soldier is bombarded yet again.

The general is rescued and taken to the field hospital. After recovering, he raised his right hand...uh...right arm and vowed he would fight any enemy, with no regard to age or super-giantism.

(And, he's still single.)

Classic H of H: Pictures of Me

2011-09-18T08:10:00.003-04:00

(I don't like to be in front of the camera, especially since I've gained so much weight. Yesterday as we boarded the USS Wisconsin a photographer hoping to make a buck asked me if I wanted a picture of the family in front of the ship. I refrained from scoffing, but I think a small snort escaped from me before I politely said no.

For those who may be new to Haven of Home, I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of me that I AM willing to share. They really are of me, just younger and thinner!)

As a "treat" (?) I decided to introduce you to the young me. I mean YOUNG. Then you'll see the older me. Are you excited? Are you ready? Are you sitting down?
I thought it would be fun as I'm sort of going through a bit of a time machine as we're preparing to move my MIL in with us. She has been in my life since I was 16yo. And, that was a long time ago!

I'll start at the beginning:

Way back when I was born there was only black and white film. In the "dark" ages. Get it? Never mind. (Notice the chair fabric. This picture is from 1963. The chair is pre-dates me.)

Somehow they developed color by the time I got to second grade. I think that "clenched lip" smile was due to hiding some missing teeth. (My mom made that dress. I loved that dress. I also had several with rick rack. I loved rick rack.)

With a HUGE jump we get to high school. My sister is on the left, my mom in the middle, and I'm on the right. I have no idea what size those skin-tight, straight-legged jeans were, but I weighed all of 108. (All the pictures of me in between second grade and tenth grade are at my sister's house. Consider yourself spared. You're welcome.)

I played the flute in the marching band. For some reason they thought it was a good idea for the band members to wear wool uniforms. In Florida. In the Fall. My hair shows the results of such interesting decision making. (BTW, that "bucket' that I'm carrying is my HAT. It's called a shako and was a tall plastic thingy with fake fur on the outside. Plastic with fur on it. In Florida.)

Next is college. Back then we still "did" corsages. That's my husband. He and I were not quite 20, but the moustache made him look MUCH older, don't you think?

Now it's 1985 and we're about to get married. I decided to grow out my nails for the wedding. I also tried out some Press-On Nails. Can you tell which is which? It's really tricky... (Lady Di was my inspiration.)

The Wedding Day. I'm finally Mrs. L after dating for five years. We were almost 22 years old.

This next picture was taken about two years before J came along. I was unaware of the photographer and I think I was in the buffet line at a wedding. My expression is either one of reflection about my own wedding--or I'm just eyeing up the entree. That's my sister in front of me. I think she spotted the dessert table gauging by the smile on her face...

This is one of my favorite pictures of J and me. He was six months old and would always reach up to pat my face when I held him like this. Let's pause for a moment of baby bliss.

Which brings us to today. Nope, no current pictures! I think you've had enough, anyway. Perhaps in another decade. . .

Classic Haven of Home posts

2011-09-17T16:57:00.003-04:00

We are currently on a vacation in Virginia. I am typing this with a view of the Atlantic Ocean out my window--on the tenth floor. Seagulls and Apache helicopters have crossed that view repeatedly. I just shooed one and waved to the other.

We've been here a week already, enjoying the beach, the pool, the battleships and NOT posting. I didn't want to go postless for too long as it makes my blog look like I've abandoned it. It occurred to me that other people repost some "golden oldies" and I figured now would be a good time to do that. If you want brand new material, I HAVE been posting up a storm on my homeschooling blog which you can view HERE. Posts about our vacation will be going there as we'll be doing the whole Jamestown/Williamsburg/Yorktown thing.

So, for the next week I'm going to DAILY repost a favorite oldie from Have of Home. Look for the first one tomorrow!

Pie of the Month Club

2011-09-06T22:28:00.005-04:00

A while back I did a post about men and their preference for all things pie. (Click HERE to read.) My husband fits that profile 100%. I've known that for decades, but recently I found out that I did not know the full-extent of that pie love.

A month ago we had a thing at the church and I volunteered to make an apple pie. My husband teasingly said something along the lines of my making pies for OTHER people, but not for him. I countered with the fact that I had made one for him about six months ago. He nodded but I could tell there was more. I said, "Exactly how OFTEN should I make a pie so that you feel that your pie needs are met?" "Once a month" was the answer. Twenty-six years of marriage and I thought I was providing all the pies that were desired. There's always something new to learn about one another in a relationship.

A few days later I quizzed him on his choices and our own personal "Pie of the Month" club was formed. I plan to use my vintage cookbooks and use seasonal foods (fresh when possible) to bring pie bliss to my husband's palate. This is his list of requests beginning September 2011:

September: Raspberry (recipe below)
October: Superb Cheese-Apple
November: Southern Sweet Potato
December: Cranberry
January: Custard
February: Chocolate
March: Banana Cream
April: Black Bottom
May: Lemon Meringue
June: Strawberry Glace
July: Strawberry Rhubarb
August: Coconut Cream

The man wants pie? The man will HAVE PIE! (Are you craving pie, yet?)

September's flavor is Raspberry. Below is the recipe I will be using. My husband prefers LESS sweet to more (another reason why he's thin and in shape) so I will use the smallest amount of sugar called for. It comes from my 1956 edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. It has pictures! For people who struggle to cook well, pictures are very, very nice.

Fresh Raspberry Pie

1 go 1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 cups fresh berries (We're picking them tomorrow!)
1 1/2 tbsp. butter

Make pastry for two-crust pie for 9" pie pan.
Mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon together. Lightly mix through the berries. Pour berries into the pastry-lined pie pan and dot with the butter. Cover with top crust which has slits cut in it. Bake until crust is nicely browned (425 degrees) and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust. (About 35-45 minutes.)

Here's what I hope mine will look like when it's finished:

Next month's selection will be Apple, picked right off the trees. Stay tuned.

Poll Results and a Horror Film

2011-09-05T20:47:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I posted a poll posing questions regarding where you do and don't feel accomplished in the domestic arts.

The first part allowed multiple answers. It appears that half of you are amazing in the kitchen. Overall household management is up there, too. Marion listed party planner as one of her best skills. Interestingly, cleaning came in a sad, sad last. That would apply to my house, too!

The second poll allowed only one answer to the question of which domestic skill needs the most work. These were actually pretty evenly distributed with, surprisingly, cooking having a high rating. I will divulge that I voted for that one for myself. If I hadn't, then sewing would have been the highest need for improvement.

That was interesting. Cooking is the best and the least at the same time!

Now about that cleaning. I keep things up fairly well. If we've been really busy or it's Monday after a typically packed weekend, the house is usually in a shambles. I just go to You Tube and watch an episode of "How Clean is Your House?"

Watching Part 1 of an episode is usually enough to rocket me out of my desk chair with a wild look on my face as I grab the cleaners and the broom! It's harsh, but it works for me!

Watch Part 2 HERE.

Watch Part 3 HERE.

Resolution Tuesday: 17 Weeks to Go

2011-09-04T15:43:00.000-04:00

The summer of 2011 has officially ended. As usual, it didn't last long enough! That's OK. The next season is under way.

Area 1: Weight

With lots of yo-yoing and even at times being HIGHER than my starting weight in January, I have arrived at a whole five pounds . . . LOST. It's not much, but at least it's on the downward side. We're going on a vacation south of the Mason-Dixon soon (Williamsburg!!), and I highly expect those five pounds to return as I eat the foods of my youth. Or maybe not. I intend to supplement my southern food choices with lots of salads and we'll be walking A LOT. Perhaps I might even maintain! (Might as well take a positive outlook.)

Area 2: Family

This sort of belongs here as it benefits my family. I have asked (begged) a lady in our church to give me some lessons in fitting clothes. I have my second lesson this week and I've already learned several places I've been doing things wrong for decades. Her mother was a professional in this area and taught her daughter all the tricks of the trade. It's nice being excited about sewing again.

Area 3: Schedule

As of Friday we finished up our Summer Program in homeschooling. Since we'll be away for half of September (doing educational things), I am not starting our new school year until the beginning of October. It did occur to me last night that I still need to put this new school year together. I haven't even looked at anything yet. I love curriculum planning time--I just need to sit down and do it.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I got nothing here that's new. My toenails have faithfully enjoyed color all summer. That's something!

Area 5: Debt

The vacation to Williamsburg that I mentioned above came about because we wanted to take advantage of the homeschool rates on tickets and lodging that were available. We just finished studying this time period and wanted to bring it to life for J. We were prepared for these costs, so half of it is already paid for. We've been using a mostly cash system for over a year now and it is REALLY nice having things not show up a month later on the credit card bill. We've also gone to an automatic draw on the debt so that every month has the minimum plus a good extra chunk reducing the total. These are at 0% and 4%, so things are beginning to show improvement.

It's slow but steady progress!

Area 6: Garden

The tomatoes are FINALLY starting to come in a bit. We've also gotten a nice harvest of green beans and a few bell peppers. The collards have been plentiful. Irene's winds broke a few of the cucumber, bean, and melon stems, though.

This garden has definitely had to overcome lots of conditions. We had flooding in May, two weeks of absentee gardeners in June, a squash murdering crazy women with shears in July, and a hurricane in August. Now it will have more absentee gardeners in September.

Gee. It's a miracle anything grew at all!

Resolution Tuesday: 19 Weeks to Go

2011-08-23T13:35:00.000-04:00

Wow. We're in the "teens" now as far as the number of weeks left in 2011. I don't think I'll count down next year--it seems to be making the year go faster!

Area 1: Weight

I have lost 3 pounds in the last two weeks. I know EXACTLY how that happened. I have officially sworn off of McD's Caramel Frappes. My body ordered me to after being up one night, all night, with extreme stomach pain. My new name for this beverage is "Frappe Blah!" (My son likes that and uses it often.)

Area 2: Family

I've been working on finishing up my son's summer program. The biggest thing we've worked on all summer is getting him to stop hating math. It seems to be working, mainly because I've found a math series that he absolutely adores. It's called Life of Fred. (To see more about it, click on the title.)

Area 3: Schedule

Regular maintenance has been going fine. A new desire to organize has been kicked into high gear, though. I will be posting about this increased ampage soon. It's bordering on extreme, but a good extreme!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I have been coercing, I mean asking a lady at church to teach me her major skills regarding fitting a pattern. I got one lesson in February. I have been begging, I mean checking with her to see when our next class might be. As of this morning, I should be increasing my knowledge starting tomorrow at 1:00!

Area 5: Debt

Nothing new here. You may move along to the next category.

Area 6: Garden

Let's see, all the items that are doing great so far: lettuce, cucumbers, melons, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, peppers, collard greens, and some yellow squash before I murdered the plant.

Those that are not: Tomatoes

The most important crop we wanted success with? Tomatoes

There are a lot of flowers. There is some fruit. Nothing is ripe. The few that sort of ripened were split and ugly.

At least all the others are happy!

320sf for a Family of 3

2011-08-15T07:31:00.000-04:00

If you've read much of my blog, you know that I am REALLY interested in living in a small space--especially as it pertains to reducing our expenses. (Click HERE for previous posts on the subject.)

Today I came across this YouTube video where a family of 3 lives in 320sf. They homeschool their son and have a home business (housed in a small building next to their house). I love it!

For your inspiration:

Book Recommendation: "Vintage Notions"

2011-08-14T07:34:00.000-04:00

(Click on the picture to go the Amazon info.)

At the library today I came across this lovely book. I was intrigued by the title--especially the secondary title which is "An Inspirational Guide to Needlework, Cooking, Sewing, Fashion, and Fun."

In thumbing through it I found that is a collection of articles written in the 1920s by a woman named Mary Brooks Picken. She began something called The Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences and wrote a textbook called The One-Hour Dress and How to Make It (a bestseller) and Thimblefuls of Friendliness which is a collection of Mary's wisdom and philosophy of life. Show wrote another 100 or so books on all the domestic arts as well.

This book is a collection of the best of Mary's work. It is arranged as a yearbook and is absolutely delightful. It may have to be added to my collection at some point. (I'll return this one to the library, of course!)

My interest grew after the introduction and I was completely hooked when I read a poem (written by Mary?) that espoused my philosophy of the importance of being a homemaker:

"Isn't it strange that Princes and Kings
And clowns that caper in sawdust rings,
And just plain folk like you and me,
Are builders for Eternity?
To each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass and a book of rules;
And each must make ere life is flow,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone?"

It just gets better after that! Please check your library and see if they own a copy. Perhaps it will be the same inspiration to you that it is becoming to me.

Vintage Quotes: Jackie Kennedy

2011-08-13T08:04:00.002-04:00

I found this 1961 souvenir issue about Jacqueline Kennedy at a yard sale recently. It was mixed in with several other vintage magazines, all for $1.00. I was thrilled! I knew it would be enjoyable from an historical point of view. I was surprised by what else I found.

The pictures were all from her early days as the First Lady. She had young children, was young herself, and was married to the man who ran the most powerful country in the world. The quotes throughout the book were all about family.

Below this picture it said:

"Running a house is a joy to me. When it all runs smoothly...when food is good...the flowers look fresh...I have such satisfaction."

In another section of the book she made a comment that gave some insight as to how she dealt with the tragedy that occurred a short two years later:

"I believe that if you can't cope with emergencies by the time you are twenty-five, you'll never be able to adapt yourself to situations."

When you were twenty-five, did you feel that you were capable of coping with emergencies? I know I'm more capable now, but I'm also nearly twice that. Interesting.

TWO Polls... Come and Vote!

2011-08-12T07:01:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I posted a poll. Therefore, I decided to post two.

I've been examining my levels of competency of late. Specifically I've been thinking about to what degree I've accomplished the various parts of my role as a homemaker after working at it for 25 years. I've been surprised at discovering I've actually become very good at some tasks. I've also been dismayed to know that mastery of other tasks has been sort of pushed aside and excused away. (How many times have I talked about hating to cook???) Since I was thinking about it, I thought I'd throw it out for others to examine and share.

I chose certain common areas and labeled them "Domestic Arts" and listed Cooking, Cleaning, Sewing, Thrift (as in making the most of the money that comes into the house), and Household Management (making the whole thing run like clockwork and creating a haven for everyone who lives there).

The first poll asks what areas you feel you have reached a level of efficiency. I enabled the poll to accept multiple choices. I also gave "other" as an option and would love to hear what that might be in the comments.

The second poll asks what ONE area you feel has been neglected most by you and could use definite improvement. ("All of the Above" is not an option. No one is dismal at ALL of it. Don't be so hard on yourself.)

Please come and vote. Be encouraged by what you find when you think about your accomplishments!

My Garden--and a Mystery Plant to identify

2011-08-11T07:17:00.001-04:00

After the flooding in the spring I managed to get some half price plants at the nursery to fill in (read about 75% of the garden). Since then we've had the most beautiful summer. My garden has been pretty happy and I'm starting to see some harvest.

My first harvest was the yellow squash. The plants were kind of all together in a giant bush. The effect was gorgeous. Then, the powdery mildew came. Then, I decided to cut the leaves and stems that were affected. Then, I ended up with what I'm calling "My Shame":

Pretty sad, isn't it? I feel really, really bad. But then I walk down a few feet and see this lovely squashy plant. (I'm not sure what it is exactly because I forgot to label things. Yes, I do feel dumb. Thank you.) Whatever it is, it's going great guns. It has some powdery mildew, too, but I'm spraying it was some baking soda water (someone told me to do that) and removing a FEW leaves at a time so as not to shock the plant. So far, so good.

This next area is my green beans. Those poles are 7 feet tall. I love how climbing things have their little shoots that wind around and give the plant a boost. I love my trellis. Another dh creation. (To see his woodshed extraordinaire, click HERE.)

In front of the trellis area of beans and tomatoes I've planted some cabbage. I'm fairly sure about that. That completes the tour of some of the plants on the left side of the garden.

Here's the right side filled with tomatoes brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and watermelons. They're all labeled. I smartened up a bit.

And now for the FULL picture. It looks kind of small, but I had to start small. Now that I'm seeing some success, I'm ready to enlarge the garden next year!

Finally, I have a mystery plant. This is one of those (I guess?) that I planted without labeling. It doesn't look like any picture on any seed packet I have. I have NO idea what it is. It could be flowers or vegetables as I planted both.

If anyone can venture a guess (or if you KNOW) what it is, I will be very grateful. It's not any of the things I mentioned above. Please help identify this mystery plant! (I think you can click on the picture to enlarge.) TIA!

The Woodshed Deluxe, or Braggin' on the Hubby

2011-08-10T12:56:00.004-04:00

We heated with wood full-time last winter. We were actually warm inside for the first time since we moved here 14 years ago! That part was awesome. The sad part was that my husband had the wood dropped in the back of the yard in October and then proceeded to warm 60 hour weeks and be gone for two of the weeks. He never got around to stacking--or covering--the wood. Then the snows came. (You can read the full story HERE.)

This picture is of J (my son) out at the frozen woodpile last winter collecting some logs to stack on the porch. My dh and ds had to chip away the ice to get the wood out. We had lots of sizzling (and smoking) fires due to the high water content...

After THAT horrendous experience, my dh has been on a rampage to NEVER let that happen again! He's been collecting wood here and there all summer (freebies). Some of it is piled here.

Oh No! That looks like it will be covered in sleet and snow when winter arrives. Again.

Never fear. My husband learned a hard (and cold) lesson. Look what he's been constructing in between his long work days and busy weekends:

It's not done yet, but soon all we be finished. The wood will be D.R.Y. and easy to obtain.

And we will be warm!

Resolution Tuesday: 21 Weeks to Go

2011-08-09T22:12:00.003-04:00

Area 1: Weight

No poundage lost the last two weeks, but my clothes are ever so slightly less tight. I think it's all the water, veggies, and gardening!!

Area 2: Family

I love summer. My son and I have taken advantage of the ease of just enjoying the outdoors. He's been helping a lot in the garden work and it's nice to see him (and for him to see) helping the family. I make sure I praise him, especially when there's no complaining about the work!

Area 3: Schedule

With the garden, the ever-ongoing-desire to lose weight, and the continued chipping away at our debt, I've decided it's time to "Cook From My Pantry" again. That's where I started this blog 3 years ago! HERE is a link to the first time through.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

In the winter I try not to over shower my skin. It gets very dry and unhappy. In the summer with all the heat and activity, I have no choice. Believe it or not, it STILL gets dry even though it's fairly humid. I just realized this afternoon when I took my shower that we never put our filter back on after we changed the shower head--12 months ago! The filter removes a lot of the chlorine in the water. When the water heats up, not only are we bathing in certain amounts of chlorine, we're also inhaling it. I think I'd better put that on the "Honey-Do" list asap!

Area 5: Debt

I did some calculating on Sunday night and we have put to rest a full 25% of our debt, even with the recent roof and basement setbacks! We're still not done with the repairs for the basement, but things are to the level that the rest of the repairs can wait. Woo hoo!

Area 6: Garden

I hate to say this, but I evidently killed my beautiful yellow squash plants. There were probably nine plants all growing in one GIANT bunch. The flowers were plentiful and the whole thing was gorgeous. Then, we were hit with powdery mildew. I decided to cut off the leaves (at the bottom of the stem) that had the mildew on them. Things are very sad and moldy looking now. Was I supposed to just cut the leaf and not the stem? How can I prevent this in the future?

I feel guilt-ridden. I think the other plants tremble a bit when they see me coming with the shears!

Pressure Canning?

2011-08-07T15:45:00.001-04:00

My garden is coming along OK. It's not going to keep me from having to buy things at the grocery store (this year, at least), but it's WAY better than past years. In the future I hope to have a harvest that will take us through the winter without having to buy ridiculously priced veggies.

With that in mind, I'm starting to give consideration to pressure canning. I prefer freezing most things since that preserves the nutrients better, but I'm very interested in having things like broth, homemade soups, and cooked meats canned and on the shelf so that there's more room in the freezer for the veggie harvest.

My freezer is only so big!

My mom had a pressure COOKER that she used quite a lot. I remember listening to the little pressure gauge rattling away and smelling chicken and rice cooking. I actually own a pressure cooker and haven't used it. I guess I'm a little afraid of it, too!

I found this site, Simply Canning, that has a lot of useful information for beginners. I'm inspired to overcome my fears after reading through it.

I don't want to purchase a new pressure canner ($$$$!!!). I don't want to purchase an old canner (safety issues). I've been looking on CraigsList and everyone else seems to be posting about them--in the WANTED section.

Do you do any pressure canning? Do you feel safe about the whole experience?

Resolution Tuesday: 22 Weeks to Go

2011-08-03T11:39:00.004-04:00

Area 1: Weight

I've been doing a lot of hard physical labor this summer. I feel stronger, which is nice. I feel productive, which is really nice! For me, however, losing weight is nearly 100% dealing with the food. We're eating lots of salads and veggies, but I'm still frequenting a certain M place with their evil Carmel Frappes. Those things have so many calories that no amount of gardening and hauling things around the yard will be able to compete with the amount I have consumed. Of course, you know that it's all McD's fault, right? It's not me at all. Nope. I should sue.

Area 2: Family

Today is our 26th wedding anniversary. We're going out this evening for a nice, quiet, child-free dinner. All day I have been thinking about what we were doing 26 years ago at each glance at the clock. Right now I was finishing up making sure the reception items were in order and getting my bridesmaids rounded up to go and get dressed for the service at 1:00. We were SO young!!! (I was so thin!) Though it has been more than a quarter of a century, I still look at my sweetheart's face and see that boy that was grinning so broadly as I walked down the aisle. I'm so grateful for the years that we've had and the years we will have together.

Area 3: Schedule

I've added something to my daily schedule. I've added a stroll around our acreage--all .75 of an acre of it. I tell my son that we're going to go "walk the gardens." It's fun to see what is already there and think of what is to come. It's a nice thing to do while I can still walk without layers and parkas and thick boots!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

Nothing new here. I'm coloring my hair later today. Woo hoo.

Area 5: Debt

With all that's going on in our economy, I've been wondering about selling some gold. We don't have much, but we've been holding on to it as we've watched the price of gold rise. Anyone sold any? Anyone have thoughts on how long to wait?

Area 6: Garden

I was picking Japanese beetles off of my green beans yesterday. I detest those things. I also found a couple of worms that needed to move along as well, so they all met their demise together. Everything has lots of flowers on it, which is encouraging. I've processed some yellow squash for the freezer and we've eaten lettuce, tomatoes, and collard greens so far. Correction, we've all eaten lettuce, tomatoes, and squash, but only my dh and ds have eaten collard greens. I may be from the South, but I don't do collard greens OR okra. My dad was from New York. It's all his fault.

Though not from my garden, I did score some strawberries at a great price and just finished making some jam. Hopefully I did everything correctly. I tried using something new called Pomona's Powdered Pectin. Raspberries will be in in another month and I want to put up a few jars of raspberry jam as well. That should take care of our jam for toast needs as well as sweetened fruit to put in the yogurt. (I buy plain yogurt in the 32oz container and mix in the fruit as I serve it. MUCH cheaper!)

Five Year Yard: Current Status

2011-07-31T18:52:00.004-04:00

Back in the winter when I could not even SEE my yard, I began to dream. After living here for 10 years, my husband and I felt that it was time to put down some roots--both figuratively and literally. I sketched out some ideas and my "Five Year Plan" for our property was born. (For more details, click HERE.)

My first sketch was how our .75 acres as of March of 2011 (Click to enlarge.):

My second sketch was what I hoped we would accomplish before the winter of 2011 was upon us:

I thought I'd give an update on what we've managed to do so far.

* The pool went in as soon as summer finally deigned to arrive. It has been summarily enjoyed at every warm opportunity.

* The garden was also put in even though the beginning of the summer threatened to make our property a lake...INSIDE as well as outside.

* I ended putting our compost bin in a different place when I realized that I wanted to have it more accessible to the kitchen in the winter as well as the summer. When I dug up the sod, there were already some nice worms down there. They smiled as I placed the compost bin above them. I smiled, too, though there was no way I was going to actually touch them.

* My plans for a worm bin are still up in the air. For now I'm counting the ones under the compost bin as my current crop.

* As of this afternoon, the fencing has been removed from its original position. That means that my next project will be to get my herbs in and the mint moved.

* The sunflowers being planted, and the lilacs and hydrangea being moved didn't make it this year. Of course, the summer isn't over yet!

* The other big project (beside the garden) that is about 75% finished is a real wood shed. Where I drew in "wood pile" is a real, honest-to-goodness shed. It's going to be beautiful. Anything that houses something that will keep me warm in the winter I will always consider beautiful. I'll take pictures and tell its financial story when it's finished--it's that awesome!

Much to my surprise and delight, we really ARE progressing on my Five Year Plan. Despite flooding, roof leaking, and being gone for half of June, it's really coming to pass. It just takes a plan and a WHOLE LOT of work. Nothing wrong with that!

Decorum and Privacy--From 1946

2011-07-29T07:41:00.007-04:00

When standing about in conversation, do you worry about where you should place your hands so that you look poised and confident? Should they go in the pockets? HEAVENS, No! How about behind your back a la Jo March (2 points if you can name the book reference!)? Unladylike, of course.

Well, if you've been stumped about this issue, I have help for you! Click on the picture below and all will be well:

If you were a teenage girl in the 40s, you might have had trouble with family members not respecting your space. (I still have trouble getting my 9yo not to follow me into the bathroom.) According to this excerpt from the July, 1946 issue of Woman's Day, it's all about mutual ("Mutual I'm sure!"--Name the movie referenced for another 2 points!) respect for one another's dignity:

A little privacy--a letter for just you and a place to experiment with the leg paint in--is something others have and you don't. Families are possessed of a very juicy curiosity about everything you do...No sooner do you stack your legs against the wall to improve the circulation, than someone bounds through the closed door and knocks herself out with gags about whether you're doing this to clear the brain or the skin that covers it. It's not that families are prying, although the brat stage is--it's just that they can't help being interested in what goes on in your life. Nor can they squash being funny about it. Certainly we, and probably you, are not above airy comments on our sister's dates. By and large this give and take is a very healthy affair. At the same time everybody in the club is entitled to privacy. It has something to do with respecting a person's dignity.

As soon as I've finished writing this post, I am SO going to go and stack my legs against the wall to increase my circulation! I'll skip the leg paint, though...

I have such a small family that privacy isn't really an issue. It just sort of naturally occurs (except for the bathroom company). I do think it's important to make some effort for DELIBERATE privacy. I don't mean "me time," per se, but rather a time to withdraw for a short while with requested (announced) lack of interruption to be able to refocus and think about all that we have to be grateful for and need to be ready to do. Think about your family, your circumstances, your responsibilities. Pray about them. Hear and obey the voice of the Father so that you can do what you're supposed to be doing, and do it well.

If you want to stack your legs while you're doing that, go for it!

Resolution Tuesday: 23 Weeks to Go

2011-07-25T20:45:00.005-04:00

Area 1: Weight

I'm UP 3 pounds. Combine some water retention with NO walking this week. We have been eating lots of salads as my lettuce is still going great. I can just FEEL the vitamins vibrating into my body as I eat lettuce that's only minutes old!

Area 2: Family

Here's a question that came up for me recently: When you listen to someone talking, do you actually see that PERSON? Do you admire their particular verbal skills or knowledge of the subject? Or, do you (like I noticed about me), listen with one ear and formulate your own feelings and what you're going to say when they take a breath?

I forced myself to be aware of that yesterday. When my husband was speaking, I was focusing on his face--the face that I remember being 16yo! I listened until he was finished and then had nothing to add. He had covered the topic without my butting in. Imagine that!

I tried that with my son, too. If given any encouragement, he will talk nonstop until your ears bleed. I tend to tune out if I'm not interested in the topic. This morning I focused on his beautiful eyes and listened to his sweet, young voice. I paid attention without throwing in any corrections or comments. He didn't rattle on like he usually does. Imagine that!

Area 3: Schedule

Having the basics under control has been an excellent thing. It has freed me up to be spontaneous. Outings, people coming over, sitting on the porch and reading for an hour while J is splashing in his pool. I love summer.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

My particular chassis has always been an insect attractor. I was always the kid covered in bites while everyone else was standing around comfortably. I also reacted to them with swelling, hard, hot areas inches and inches around each bite. For decades.

I recently discovered two things that have revolutionized my insect attracting life:

1) When bitten, IMMEDIATELY put cold packs from the freezer on the bite and keep it there on and off for about 10 minutes. THERE IS NO SWELLING! It also takes away the itchiness.

2) If a cold pack is unavailable and a bite ends up swelling, take apple cider vinegar and pat it over the whole area several times. I did this recently after the swelling had been there for two days and we were hitting the hardened up level. By the next morning, it was no longer hot and you could feel softened areas. By the following day, it was down to normal-people bite level!

47 years of suffering. Hopefully someone else will read this and avoid decades of this torture!

Area 5: Debt

No change except that we're paying extra on all debts. Whittle, whittle, whittle.

Area 6: Garden

My garden is totally flourishing. We've almost broken even with the amount we spent on the garden in lettuce alone. We're still waiting impatiently for tomatoes, though. That's the REAL purpose of a garden, right?

Vintage Thirst Quenchers

2011-07-25T17:18:00.005-04:00

Is it hot enough for you? (Insert annoying laugh track.)

Actually, today has been in the 70s after a week of nearly 100. I kind of loved it during the hot days, though, knowing that it wouldn't last too long here "up north." (I know what's waiting for me in just a few short months!)

It was FINALLY Official Pool Weather to this Florida native, but I am glad that we're not set on Scorch any longer.

Other parts of the country, however, are definitely still at that level. Since that is the case, I thought I'd look through my old magazines to see how those folks cooled off in pre-air conditioning times. I found some recipes for "Coolers" in my July, 1946 issue of Woman's Day. We still have some hot days in our future before the leaves begin to turn, so I plan on trying a couple of these recipes. Each recipe makes one serving.

(The pictures are from THIS Etsy shop. The lemon glasses have already sold, but the other sets are still available as of this posting. Click on the picture for each sale page.)

Minted Pink Pineapple Crush

1/4 cup crushed pineapple, fresh or canned
1/2 cup loganberry juice
1-2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
Plain or sparkling water

Mix pineapple, loganberry juice, and chopped mint. Serve over cracked ice in glass, adding plain or sparkling water to fill glass.

Apple-Prune-Orangeade

1/3 cup apple juice
1/3 cup prune juice
1/3 cup orange juice
Mint

Blend juices. Pour over cracked ice in glass. Serve topped with fresh mint.

Cool Buttermilk Fizz

1/2 cup buttermilk
Sparkling water

Pour buttermilk over cracked ice in glass. Fill remainder of glass with sparkling water. Stir well and serve.

Ginger Iced Tea (3 servings)

2 cups chilled tea
1 cup gingerale

Add gingerale just before serving.

Stay cool!

Emergency Desk Declutter Plan

2011-07-21T07:45:00.004-04:00

My husband says that I'm addicted to lists. He has even been known to mock me (just a bit). He may be right. All I know is that I need major help when I'm faced with a mess that makes me want to quietly close the door and dash off to somewhere far, far away!

Having a list, a full-out plan, gives me some gumption to face things. The list is like a drill sergeant who orders me around. I can obey without having to think, which I find quite helpful. Having to think in these situations just causes heart palpitations.

Because of this need in my life, I have an Emergency Cleaning List in which I laid out a plan to recover my house after major disasters (usually of my own making!) and my previous post about my Starting Points that give me a jump start for daily life cleaning.

In the comments of my Emergency Clean plan, though, Lilli asked if I had a similar emergency list for my desk which reminded me that there is a third area with potential for agitation: The Paper Mess.

I deal with SO much paper due to personal finances, my husband's business, and homeschooling that I have indeed developed a plan out of desperation. My drill sergeant reappears when needed and starts barking at me until the paper is whipped into shape.

So, I give you my

Emergency Desk Declutter Plan

A beverage is quite nice to have available. Water would be ideal, but you may need some caffeine for this job. The drill sergeant can get pretty rough.

Gather up supplies: A garbage or recycle bin, a shredder, a stapler, and a pen.

Sit on the floor with your supplies. I know this is weird, but that's what I do.

Start on the far right of all desk/paper related areas.

Pick up a stack so that you can see the surface underneath and place it in front of you on the floor.

Beginning at the top, begin to sort into categories.

Trash/recycling/shredding go in their receptacles.

After each piece of paper has been initially dealt with in that stack, go for the next one.

When all paper has been removed from all surfaces and you're surrounded with your sorted stacks, start on the right (again) and begin to "finish" each stack to its final destination.

NOW, what exactly do have I have surrounding me on the floor? I know it looks like just another mess, just lower, but it isn't. I always sort into the same categories which all have designated places:

Homeschooling completed work for portfolio binder

Homeschooling completed work for posterity (in notebooks)

Homeschooling information to be used now (goes in current area where workbooks are)

Homeschooling information to be used in the future (goes in files in HS bookshelves)

Business customers completed to go in filing cabinet

Business customers for further handling to go in wall pockets labeled "Pending Acceptance," "Accepted," "Pending Payment," "Paid/To Tithe."

Business Paid Payables to be filed in filing cabinet

Business Unpaid Payables to put in "bill basket" in desk area

Personal Paid Payables to be filed in filing cabinet

Personal Unpaid Payable to put in "bill basket" in desk area

Personal Misc. items to go in filing cabinet (eg appliance manuals, birth certificates, brochures for places to visit, etc.)

Store receipts separated into business and personal folders in wall pocket near desk

Pictures, CDs, empty water glass, etc. just go where they belong

Household Management stuff goes in my Homemaking Binder. I may do a separate post on this.

As I put each stack away, the drill sergeant lightens up a bit. When the floor is cleared, I dust my desk surfaces, call my son in to admire my work (he's good about that), and pat myself on the back.

Starting Points

2011-07-16T07:07:00.000-04:00

It could be just me. I hope it's not, but it could be. Here's the issue: When the house has gotten away from me due to whatever reason, I look around and feel oh-so-overwhelmed. A feeling of panic begins to rise and my mind says, "WHERE DO I START??"

I think I've solved that problem.

I call this revelation my "Starting Points." Each room has one. It's the FIRST place I start to begin to bring order back to a space. I know that beginning at each starting point will provide a momentum of bringing order. Once that is finished, I usually go to the right and work my way around until all is well again. Even when things are not out of order, I still always begin in the very same places. That keeps me from having to think and subsequently hear my mind shouting. Shouting hurts my ears.

Here are my "Starting Points":

Kitchen: The dishwasher--empty and load

Bedrooms: Make the beds

Laundry: The whites

Bathroom: The Sink

Living Room: Couch

Dining Room: Table top

Misc. areas: To the right of the door as you walk in

Car: Driver's seat

I don't have a starting place for anything outside yet. Now that I'm working through my Five Year Yard Plan, I will probably develop something.

What do you do to motivate yourself to get started?

Tasks: Being in the Moment

2011-07-14T07:09:00.000-04:00

I read this recently:

If you resolve to do a task to the best of your ability, you will find that you enjoy it more. This is true even when doing something well requires more time... Some hope the task will go quickly so they can move on to "fun" activities; when the job takes longer than planned they become frustrated... I approach the same task knowing that it will be time consuming... But ultimately, it's satisfying [to do a difficult task well].

~ Amy Dacyczyn, The Tightwad Gazette

Amy's words have been rolling around in my spirit ever since. I am particularly bad about "enduring" a task to get to the "good stuff" faster. In the back of my mind I know that that isn't the best attitude, but I generally just ignore it. Reading that quote, however, reminded me that I need to pay attention to what I'm doing in the moment.

I was making supper the other night and ended up making a mess because I was in a hurry. I wasn't hurrying because things were late or we had to be somewhere. I was hurrying because I felt that what I was doing (combining chopped chicken with mayo for chicken salad) was just a means to an end--and I wasn't paying it attention. Next thing I knew, a huge scoop of chicken salad flopped out onto the counter. As soon as it happened, the quote came back to mind and I realized something.

I wasn't enjoying the journey as I should.

In the picture below I saw several examples of potential for "enjoying the journey." (I know it's an ad, but that's not important.) The stove top is clean, as well as the interior of the oven. Sometimes cleaning those areas is time consuming. I rush through them. Another area is how she's dressed. Seeing that reminded me that I have wanted to change my day-to-day wardrobe to something far less dumpy. I wouldn't sport a suit and pumps, but my current dress code of sweat pants and fleece shirt in the winter, and ill-fitting tops and shorts in the summer leaves a lot to be desired. Finely, she's pulling yummy homemade items out of that sparkling oven.

Just sayin'.

Resolution Tuesday: 25 Weeks to Go

2011-07-12T16:08:00.004-04:00

Hello all!

Last week we hit the official middle of the year 2011. Summer is (finally) in full swing here. In fact, it is currently 88 degrees and sunny. I'm writing this on my screened porch (fans on high) while my son is splashing around in his small pool. Life is good. Now for a quick resolution update:

Area 1: Weight

With all the beautiful weather, I've been getting more exercise. I've also been upping my veggie intake which has made me feel better all around. I forgot to get on the scale this morning, but I was down a bit last week.

Area 2: Family

I've decided I'm not going to have any more bad days. How's that for a statement? I actually had one this morning. I guess what I should say is that I've decided I'm not going to allow any day to stay or finish as a "bad day." Each time things try to shape themselves in that direction, I'm going to make it a point to find some way to turn it around. For example, I was mightily discouraged this morning. I could easily have wallowed around in that discouragement for quite some time. I chose, instead, to actively find a way to encourage someone else. It made all the difference. The issues of the morning have not resolved themselves, but I've at least given this day another name besides "bad day."

Area 3: Schedule

I haven't posted about this in my homeschooling website (which hasn't been updated since, like, April!), but I have a modified "summer program" going on. I'm going to post about that over there soon, so click on the link if you're interested in what that means, exactly.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but I want to bring it up again. I'm in my 40s (Good golly, Miss Molly!) and, well, my hair isn't as thick as it used to be. Now, the body hair being more sparse is totally OK with me. It's the "crowning glory" loss that has been kind of scary. I literally broke my vacuum beater bar because there was SO MUCH HAIR clogging it up so fast.

I brought up this question on a forum for AnnLouise Gittleman who wrote Fat Flush and many other books. AnnLouise has spent decades studying female hormones and her advice really, really works. Her advice regarding my hair loss was exactly what I needed. I am, apparently, low in Biotin. When I take my Biotin daily, my hair stops falling out and it becomes thicker again. When I stop taking it, within 4 weeks I'm shedding like my Pomeranian used to do in the spring.

Just thought I'd share!

Area 5: Debt

Slowly we're recovering from all our water issues. Some friends donated their time and we were able to get our roof finished for about half the price. My husband was able to negotiate the wood for a wood shed (that we'll be needing) and saved approximately 80% (NOT a misprint). I'm actively managing the books and things are starting to feel less oppressive all around. When we get out of debt, I declare that we will do WHATEVER we need to do to stay out of debt. I know things happen, but we will do our part not to contribute to it ourselves.

Area 6: Garden

My garden is actually doing fairly well! I have been faithful to weed, water, and pick bugs (eww!). We've been eating lots of lettuce and radishes as that is all that's mature right now.

We always make it a point to comment about how the food we're eating is only 8 minutes old. We just FEEL the nutrition coursing into our systems. We effuse about the lusciousness of the whole experience. My son just rolls his eyes.

Then I send him out to weed!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T07:30:00.000-04:00

(Recipe for the above cake can be found at 17 and Baking.)

We are celebrating TWO birthdays this July 4th. The country's and my niece's. Her birthday is actually later in the week, but she kind of likes having a parade and fireworks as well as a party. Why not?

The theme will be "Red, white, and blue, and Sleeping Beauty, too."

(Can you believe 2011 is HALF over already?)

Resolution Tuesday: 27 Weeks to Go

2011-06-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

For my first post back from my unintentional hiatus, I thought I'd catch up on my accountability. Therefore, weeks, 28 - 31 will be rolled into this summary and then I'll make a better effort to stay up-to-date. My next post will be in July. Can you believe it's almost July?

Area 1: Weight

For two weeks in July, my husband and I painted the interior of a customer's vacation home--on "The Cape." (Cape Cod for the unfamiliar.) The customer asked if he would be willing to do this, and would be welcome to bring his family along. When he told me about it, the "yes" came zipping out so fast I think I screeched a little bit. We had an AWESOME time during the day playing at the beach, visiting the historical areas, enjoying an antique car show...and eating. I did a lot of cooking (trying to save money), but that did nothing for my waistline. Thankfully the walking and biking kept extra pounds off, but there was definitely no loss. I'm back on track this week. The evenings and early morning were spent prepping, painting, wallpapering and repairing the entire interior. And cleaning. That place sparkled when we got through with it!

Area 2: Family

See above. That was probably one of the best vacations we've had, especially in the family dynamics. One of the (many) reasons things went so well is that I've actually taken up a new word as a reminder of what I want to be like: Radiant. As I've mentioned before, I can be very grumpy. When I wanted to complain about having finished the 162 steps to the top of the Pilgrim Monument, I remembered my "word." I smiled. It might have been a grimace of pain to others, but I was definitely trying!

When my son wanted to misbehave, I remembered my word and put not just a smile, but a radiant smile on my face as I encouraged him to go the right direction. It helped me to have the right frame of mind to fix the behavior, not be upset with the person.

When it was midnight and my husband was working, I didn't complain about MY being tired. I remembered "radiant," smiled, and chatted with him about how enjoyable our vacation was and how I appreciated his willingness to provide it for us.

My default has been less (much less) than radiant. I'm trying to reset my default!

Area 3: Schedule

I'm pulling things back together (sort of emergency mode) after all the tearing up of our house that has occurred. The basement flooded (the FINISHED basement that is no longer finished), and the roof leaked in very horrible ways. Belongings are all out of place and decidedly NOT attractive. I'm wading in, though (pun intended), and intend to bring order to all of this over the next few weeks. Yes, it's so bad that week(S) will be necessary. Though disheartening, we are FAR, FAR better off than the victims of the true flooding that has happened all over the country. So, I'll amp up the radiance and get to work!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I tried my best not to get a sunburn, but I did get some tan. Though I applied sunscreen to my lower arms the "age spots" from previous sun damage have increased again. I have been applying the Castor oil as I posted about before HERE.

Area 5: Debt

The most discouraging part of all the house damage is the financial setback. Along with ceiling repairs, foundation sealing and painting, and loss of belongings, the water in the attic set up a lovely bout of mold in the insulation. We have to hire someone to "contain" it and then replace the insulation. Oops! I mean, ...

Area 6: Garden

The garden is growing like weeds--along with all the weeds that grew while we were gone. I'm hoping to get to some of it today as this is the only non-rainy day since we've gotten back.

I made a little mistake when I planted the garden. I was trying to fit THAT in between rainstorms (the day after I planted we had hail) and it completely slipped my mind to indicate WHAT I planted. Yep, no labels. I recognize some things, but the lettuces are unfamiliar. I hope I don't accidentally pick weeds and put them into our salads!

Well, goodness!

2011-06-20T19:16:00.003-04:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted. I'm apparently taking an unintentional blog break.

I figured out the problem. I seem to have nothing to say at the moment! Imagine that. I keep thinking about posting something and then, when I finally sit down to the "new post" page . . . nothing. I've also noticed that I end up being interrupted after just a few words. Since I have nothing to say, the interruptions get my attention.

I think I will go ahead and take an official break until July. Might as well considering it's almost the end of June!

I do have lots of things that I'm doing that I think might inspire some writing. There have also been lots of things going on that seem to have undermined that same inspiration. Leaking roof and water coming into our basement foundation, mainly. We've recently gone in a positive direction with both those areas and I'm feeling a whole lot better regarding my home. "Haven" wasn't cutting it for the last six weeks!

Now that a few things have started to come into order, I'm feeling the "haven" love again. That should help in the posting department!

See you in July.

Roxanne

Resolution Tuesday: 32 Weeks to Go

2011-05-27T08:41:00.004-04:00

Notice how I'm playing fast and loose with that whole Resolution "Tuesday" thing. I should rename it "Tuesday-ish" and be more accurate!

Considering the devastation that's going on in other places with all the flooding, I really can't say much about our little experience here. But, I'm going to. It is raining so much that I'm pruning up. We've developed leaks downstairs now and the basement is trying to turn into a pool again. Yesterday SEVEN separate thunder storms rolled through. It even hailed! I'm just a bit tired of all of this, but I keep reminding myself that it could definitely be a lot worse. Then I vacuum up some more water and go on with the next task.

Area 1: Weight

Another pound in the right direction. That could be just the water weight lost from all the sneezing I've been doing courtesy of the pollen count. How we could have high pollen AND extreme rain is beyond me.

Area 2: Family

I've been reading about Tasha Tudor lately. For those that don't know, she was a children's book illustrator who deliberately lived as if it were 1830. She talked about how visitors always commented on how dark her interior was. I also recently watched a great PBS documentary about the industrial revolution and the invention of the light bulb. That one invention alone gave us the opportunity to work longer and more productively, so the commentator said.

During the storms yesterday, J and I used an oil lamp to read and do our work by. I understand better what an amazing change must have occurred when the cities received electricity. We are SO used to things being as bright as we want. We're also used to staying up late, because we can, and letting the computer or TV entertain us. I'm not sure that Tasha's choices were all that strange, though. I know that without access to all the bright lights and electricity I'd probably get more sleep!

Area 3: Schedule

I've been actively using my updated schedule for a while now. It is SO working! Even in the midst of all the extra activities of water and finishing up homeschooling for the year, things are running smoothly. I love a schedule that works!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I changed out the closets to include summer clothing. It's kind of fun to see things I haven't seen in half a year. I've been taking care of the chassis of EACH family member as I'm renovating some clothing to become summer wear. That kind of sewing is very quick and rewarding!

Area 5: Debt

I have a feeling that our insurance is not going to cover any of the damage that is happening. To date we had reduced our debt by 22% (yay!), but I think we're going to have to incur some to take care of these issues. One of the downsides of home ownership!

I used to think that I wanted to build a cute, sweet little house whenever we got around to being able to do that. I may have changed my mind. I'm now thinking "waterproof." I saw THIS house on a recent Yahoo offering and it's sort of tempting! No more leaking and flooding! What do you think? No?

Area 6: Garden

My "babies" mostly died, but there were some survivors. Wednesday there was actually no rain, so I took advantage and planted them and also lots of seeds. My knees and back were SO sore, and I think I even sunburned my nose a little bit.

Then, Thursday the storms and the hail and the deluge came. I haven't gone out to check them yet. I'm afraid I will cry right in front of all the neighbors. I may send my dh out to look when he gets home...

Resolution Tuesday: 34, No, 33 Weeks to Go

2011-05-18T16:55:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned a WEEK ago, "it's been a week." Thank you Packrat and Trixie for your encouragement! I won't bother with too many details, but I will say that ONE of the issues we've been dealing with is how the abundance of rain in our region has attempted to put an indoor pool in our basement! We kept ahead of it, but it looks like we'll be resealing the foundation and replacing the carpet. The upside is that I got plenty of exercise hauling water out of the basement as I used the wet vac on an hourly basis for days.

And on to our regularly scheduled Resolutions Report:

Area 1: Weight

What with all that water hauling and paying more attention to consuming vegetables, we're heading in the right direction again. Two whole pounds!

Area 2: Family

Thanks to a "Domestic Skills" worksheet I recently filled out, I have discovered something. After 25 years of working very hard to learn to declutter and clean my home, I found that I really HAVE accomplished that! I scored 100% in that area. I rejoiced.

Then I looked at the next area of skill questions: Cooking. I learned that I am desperately in need of improvement in that area--which I already knew. I've determined to apply the same concentration in this area as I did for the cleaning/decluttering area. I'm going to try to accomplish that in LESS than 25 years. My family rejoiced.

Area 3: Schedule

As I've begun to incorporate better cooking skills, I'm glad that I've made it a point to do most of the cooking in the morning. It makes it SO much easier to have just last minute prep to do before dinner. I encourage you to consider doing that if you're at home during the day. What a way to alleviate stress!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I'm going to "change over" our closets this week. It appears that the snow is truly gone for good, though the rain seems to have settled in. I think it should be safe to bring out the summer clothes as long as I keep some long sleeves and light jackets available.

Area 5: Debt

I have no idea what our basement situation is going to cost. I may pay the minimum amounts on the debt for a short time until I know what we're looking at. My purpose in doing that is to have CASH available to pay for whatever we'll need for the repairs.

Area 6: Garden

I left my "babies" outside in this deluge. I have been draining them in hopes that they'll recover, but they're pretty water-logged. It's a good thing I take better care of my human baby! Of course, my human baby would have let me know, loud and clear, if he was not being attended to.

Is it wet where you are? It seems that flooding is happening all over the US in many different areas. Is anyone in NEED of some rain? I'll try to send some your way.

I'm still here

2011-05-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

Just in case anyone was wondering, I AM still here.

It's just been one of THOSE weeks. I'll catch up soon on the comments and posting.

Meanwhile, Happy Mother's Day (belatedly) to all you wonderful moms!

Resolution Tuesday: 35 Weeks to Go

2011-05-03T16:41:00.001-04:00

Only 35 weeks left of 2011? Amazing.

Area 1: Weight

Aaaaand, we're back where we started. I believe this is called "yo-yo." I am NOT trying to play games here, dagnabbit!

Area 2: Family

We've got company coming this week (waves to FarmMom). My son is an only child. FarmMom has four, one of them a boy my son's age. Last time they visited J wanted to go back with them and I expect the same thing this time. (Hmmmm. It could be like a second honeymoon with my dh...) Nah! I guess I'd miss my baby and want him back home. Since I can't run fast enough to catch their van as they leave, I'll just have to hang onto J so he doesn't jump in before they close the door!

Area 3: Schedule

I recently did a three-part series (HERE) on what's been working for me in this area.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

If I DO have to chase FarmMom's van down the street to retrieve my stowaway child, it will require a pedicure. Perhaps I'll just go ahead and schedule one to finish up my Christmas present, in anticipation.

Area 5: Debt

A "setback" of sorts. Our 8yo van needs some TLC. Brakes, particularly. Air Conditioning, possibly. It has been an awesome vehicle, so we want to take good care of it. Definitely not an asset in the financial realm, though!

Area 6: Garden

My babies are coming along, though the peas sustained a blow when the soccer ball landed in them. Around these parts they tell us to wait until Memorial Day weekend to plant. This year we will. Next year I'd like to attempt using cold frames to get an earlier start. Have you used cold frames before? Did you make them yourself? How, if you did?

A Schedule That Works? Part 3

2011-05-02T08:21:00.001-04:00

In my LAST POST, I mentioned something about my meal planning revelation.

The beginning of my inspiration came from THIS post written by Kemi Quinn on her Vintage Homemaking site. It appears that women THOUGHT AHEAD about their meals. I'm not talking about the puny thinking ahead just to supper. No. I'm talking about thinking all the way to the next day's lunch!

In the morning, as part of the morning tasks, as much prep for the evening meal as possible was done. Boom! Want a casserole? Prepare all the way up to the point of baking and put it in the frig! Tomorrow's breakfast oatmeal needs to soak overnight (a la Nourishing Traditions)? Put it together and it's done! Oh, the freedom.

Before that revelation, supper planning (forget the next day) went something like this: OMG it's 5:30 and everything is frozen! I could flash thaw it, but I had a roast planned. I thought it would be nice to have a green bean casserole and mashed potatoes with the roast. I don't have time to peel the potatoes! That means I'll have to resort to (the sinister) Plan B: hot dogs, pasta, sauce, and carrot salad. Blech. Plan C (even more sinister): "Honey, could you pick up a pizza?"

Maybe that was just in my house.

NOW, however, supper is pretty much done in the morning, tomorrow's breakfast is planned and prepped as much as possible, lunch is usually leftovers from supper and doing all of this ahead reduces the kitchen cleanup tremendously. I'd call that a win-win situation!

Thanks, Kemi, for putting the wisdom of yesteryear in one place to help the homemakers of today!

A Schedule That Works? Part 2

2011-05-01T16:45:00.000-04:00

(I talked about the need I had to figure out a schedule that would work for me in THIS post. Please read it first as it gives the "why" for what follows.)

I have THREE areas of responsibility that just didn't seem to ever get as "completed" as they ought. In the past three years, I had try to do them all at once. A typical day would be my making breakfast, throwing in some laundry, typing up an invoice, fielding some calls, trying to work in getting dressed, getting the language arts under way for my son, and then answering the phone. By the end of the day, everyone to varying degrees was fed, dressed, taught, billed, and vacuumed. Many, many things were NEVER gotten to, though.

My thought process began with that "three" number. The three areas were equally important. If I didn't bill the customers, we wouldn't be paid. If we didn't get paid, we wouldn't be able to buy food, etc. If I didn't feed my child, he would languish away and not care about schooling. If my son was languishing in dirty sheets and the health inspectors came, they'd send for backup and take my child.

Noooo! Not my baby! This called for extreme scheduling measures!

I considered a few very important factors to determine the order of things:

When am I at my physical best during the day?

When is my son the most willing to concentrate on the schoolwork?

When is my husband best able to answer business questions while he's out working?

My answers came fast and furious:

When am I at my physical best during the day?
Definitely in the morning, when I first get up.

When is my son the most willing to concentrate on the schoolwork?
After he's had some physical activity.

When is my husband best able to answer business questions while he's out working?
NOT the first thing in the morning. He's just getting set up and working at the jobsite. Afternoon would be better.

Eureka!

I divided my day into THIRDS for the major tasks!

MORNING (After Breakfast):
Housework tasks including cleaning, meal prep (more about that in my next post), laundry, exercise. Son is involved in these things to help with his extreme energy.

LATE MORNING TO EARLY AFTERNOON (includes lunch):
Homeschooling prep, work, projects, activities.

LATE AFTERNOON:
Business paperwork--depends on what needs to be done.
Home paperwork--each day has its own task.
M: Bills, T: Debt Reduction, W: Menu planning, errand lists & prep, Th: Errand Day, F: Filing for both home and business.

At 5:00 things change gears. The major responsibilities have been COVERED!

Here's my "After Five" general routine:

Finish supper prep and the next day's breakfast, clean up kitchen.
Sweep and mop kitchen floor.
Freshen myself up. Hair, makeup, clothing change if needed.
Have J dust and vacuum the entry area (see HERE for explanation about this in my "The Good Wife" series), and set the table. Play games or read with J.

6:30 begins the Evening which involves supper, bedtime ritual for J, free time, and GETTING TO BED at a decent hour.

I have been following this schedule in a loose way for six weeks now. It is VERY easy to accomplish, toss out when needed, but get right back to immediately. Hopefully my posting about this might prove useful to someone!

In my next post I'll briefly talk about some details like my meal planning revelation. For someone who struggles mightily in this area (read "I detest cooking") this has helped considerably.

A Schedule That Works? Part 1

2011-04-30T17:27:00.000-04:00

I have a schedule, I really do. The point of a schedule, is that it's there to get things moving, keep things on track, and be thrown out the window if something more important comes along! As long as you get back to it later, that is! Unfortunately, I have made schedules (beautiful ones), that were heaved out the window at the least incident that wanted to intervene. Then, I would revise.

I have three areas of major responsibilities: Homeschooling, Doing the paperwork for my husband's business, and Keeping up with the housework. For the last three years, that is. Before that I had a baby/toddler/preschooler instead of the homeschooling. Before THAT I was a SAH wife for two years, volunteering as the secretary at our church two days a week, with only a young dog to raise instead of the baby. The constants were the contracting business paperwork and the housework.

Each change in my circumstances brought new challenges. Except for the baby/toddler years, I've mostly succeeded at "pulling it all together," but it was always only on the surface. The past few months I decided it was time to figure out why things would fall apart so easily if life went a different direction then I planned. I noticed that the common instigator for all those years of planning and struggling, I was trying to do all three major areas of responsibility simultaneously.

It just wasn't working as well as I wanted.

One thing would distract me from another, then my attention would be needed somewhere else. That meant that only the very basic necessities of homeschooling, food, laundry, keeping the house standards at a reasonable health level, and making sure that the proposals and invoices were going out EVER got done. NOTHING BEYOND THOSE THINGS managed to make it to my priority list. Filing the business papers? HA! Science experiments? Only if I HAD to. Mending things? Nope. Those are just the tip of the iceberg of the many things I always wanted to get to, but never did.

Then I came upon an idea that seemed like it just might work for me. My idea would allow time for the three major areas to be accomplished and maintained as completely as they should. It would also allow for those secondary things to finally have some attention.

It wasn't rocket science, but my plan WORKED--for me, anyways!

I'll talk about the details in my next post.

Resolution Tuesday: 36 Weeks to Go

2011-04-27T13:48:00.005-04:00

WE HAVE SUNSHINE TODAY! IT'S 70 DEGREES! (Please excuse all the shouting. It's been a long winter.)

Let's see. My progress this week is as follows:

Area 1: Weight

Up ANOTHER pound. Wrong direction. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Area 2: Family

Teaching organization to a 9yo boy. He's an only child, so he doesn't realize that everything he owns would practically be common property if he had siblings. He has NO idea. He sometimes doesn't see WHY I insist on his keeping his belongings put away when not in use. He's certainly WAY better than I was at that age. We'd have the big Saturday clean-out and all visible things chucked all over the room would be stuffed under the bed. I had to learn the hard way that doing that is NOT the best scenario for living. He still doesn't understand WHY, though.

Area 3: Schedule

My several-weeks-tested new schedule that I've been mentioning is working GREAT for me. Tomorrow I will post the synopsis and my example for anyone who loves reading other people's schedules (like I do!).

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

It's time (finally!!!!) to break out the warmer weather clothing. This "tip" doesn't have to do with MY chassis, but my son's: He has outgrown all the "play pants" that he's been wearing around the house all winter. They're going to get new lives, however. I will turn most of them into shorts since the waist and hips still fit. I paid no more than 50 cents for each pair (yard sale) and now I'm getting double the use for my money!

Area 5: Debt

Along with last week's mention of switching our CC debt from 15% cards to 0% cards and applying the saved interest amounts to them for the next 12 months, we're also writing down the amounts we DON'T spend that we would normally have. At the end of the months we'll also apply those figures to the debt. Just this week I've already added up $10 unspent money that will go to the cause.

Area 6: Garden

My "babies" are doing well. They're sitting in the sun today with a good drink of water. We're going to clean out the front flower beds on Saturday.

Now I'm off to clean the basement for half an hour and then we're going to the PARK!!

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T07:26:00.001-04:00

Resolution Tuesday: 37 Weeks to Go

2011-04-22T13:46:00.006-04:00

Has anyone else had trouble with Blogger not accepting the layout of your posts? I've been having problems for weeks now. In fact, I'm typing this in the HTML mode in an effort to avert the problem. We'll see if it works!

My sister had her baby a week ago yesterday. It was a big "all of a sudden" rush starting at 5:30 AM and ending a short 2 hours later! I was racing up the interstate to meet them at the hospital so I could take care of their 7yo daughter. Big excitement! Things are settling down to "normal" for me and "new normal" for them. He's beautiful and healthy and enthusiastically welcomed by all!

Hence the reason THIS week's Res. Tues. is late!

Area 1: Weight

Up two pounds this week.

Area 2: Family

A question I have been pondering for the last few days: If married, what is the MOST important earthly relationship? My answer: the relationship I have with my husband. No one else is affected in the same way as the husband and wife by one another. Even children. They grow up and move out. Since that relationship IS the most important earthly one in my life, I have started to pay a lot more attention in this area. This attention has turned up some needs for fine-tuning in me. I've just scratched the surface, apparently. This after 25 years of marriage!

Area 3: Schedule

The new baby threw everyone's schedule off, including mine LOL! That's a good kind of upheaval and it was a lot of fun having a "daughter" for a couple of days. Flexibility is important--so is continuity. Balance in everything.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

Now that the weather is slowly getting better, I've added 20 minute walks, 4 days a week. It feels so good to get out in the open. Since it's only 20 minutes and I live practically at the North Pole, I do NOT put on sunscreen. I've read that the skin needs 20-30 minutes of sun exposure to help increase the vitamin D. The rest of the time I try to just stay out of the sun rather than slather on sunscreen. My limited reading has not been very positive about the pros vs. cons on sunscreen.

Area 5: Debt

Things have picked up in this area! We did a switch over to 0% cards and we're going to apply the saved interest to the balances. I tried to do this six months ago and no one was offering. Things have changed and we've taken advantage!

Area 6: Garden

My camera is acting up, so I don't have pictures of my seedlings. Most are coming up, but there are some that I think I overwatered and they drowned. Since I don't have pictures, I thought I'd add this video of a time-lapse of a radish seed sprouting. We thought it was pretty cool.

Free! Vintage Spring Cleaning e-Course

2011-04-17T10:28:00.001-04:00

The calendar told me it was spring. The calendar lied, at least "up north" where I am! We had sleety rain today. Temperatures are on the cold side. The morning "lighting of the fire" is still occuring. Despite the fact that I'm still waiting for spring to arrive, I know that it will when it's ready and it will go quickly into summer. So, it's time to get the house in order and do the annual "Spring Cleaning!"

Kemi of Homemaking Organized and Vintage Homemaking has created an e-course that gives a vintage flair to this necessary task--and she's offering it for free. That should help with the motivation!

The first page of vintage hints from 1900 had a couple that brought a smile to my face. One said, "The workpeople should be engaged beforehand, to prevent delay and prolonged upset."

I laughed because my "workpeople" consist of me and my son. Engaging my son "beforehand" did not prevent prolonged upset. There was loud groaning involved, in fact. I guess engaging him "beforehand" at least gave him a chance to get used to the idea. I do provide reward for a job well-done, but his enthusiasm for the task is underwhelming. (Click HERE to see last year's experience.)

Another said, "It is a mistake to disarrange too many rooms at once; always leave some comfortable refuge."

Definite words of wisdom. I used to wander about from room to room as I started in one place and ended up distracted in another because I was putting something away. By the time I was ready to quit for the day, the mess I had created was VERY discouraging. A comfortable refuge will be established immediately upon commencing the cleaning!

I'm looking forward to working through this course over the coming weeks. Thank you, Kemi, for offering this!

(Click on the page below to sign up for the course.)

Cool Blog Alert

2011-04-16T21:48:00.005-04:00

(Click on the picture above to go to the website.)

The price of food is going up. Did you notice?

With that in mind, I was doing a bit of research tonight to help in that department and came across the above blog. The title was intriguing and it proved to be an excellent and inspiring read. If you want her menus, she offers them for purchase. If not, there's still plenty of information on her blog for useful gleaning.

Related in an oblique way to my research, I found a fun tip for reducing food costs if you so desire. The oldest man in the world died a few days ago of natural causes. He was 114 years old. (Click HERE for that story.) When asked the inevitable question, he gave several examples of rules he had lived by that he thought contributed to his longevity. One that stood out was this:

Eat only two meals a day.

My husband often does this. His work is physically demanding. He eats a pretty decent breakfast, drinks water throughout the day, often skips lunch, and then has a decent supper. If he deems that the hour is too late for consuming too much food when he finally gets in, he'll sometimes choose to eat something light at that point.

Just wanted to offer "Food" for thought.

Poll Results: A Well-Made Bed wins!

2011-04-12T20:25:00.004-04:00

After THIS POST in which I incessantly rattled on about the joys of a well-made bed, I little thought passed through my mind when I reached the end of my rhapsodizing: I might be just a TAD BIT overboard about this activity.

SO, I created a poll to see if I needed to back off a bit. I discovered that I was not alone!

64% of you were with me and said, "I agree with you--It IS my God-given right!"

11% said, "Um, Roxanne, you need to get out more. Rumpled beds are a sign of a socially-forward personality."

Another 11% brought some balance with "Made or unmade--either is OK."

Two of you took advantage of my vulnerability and chose this answer: "Eww! You slept without sheets in college?" Hmph. All I can say is that that was then and this is now--thankfully!

Resolution Tuesday: 38 Weeks to Go

2011-04-12T20:08:00.005-04:00

(As I posted HERE, I am going to "report in" on my resolution progress each work for the entire year. I had six areas (the seventh was doing this reporting) to which I wanted to give special attention. Posting about it keeps me accountable, which I find very helpful. I hope you don't mind!)

Area 1: Weight Another pound gone! I've been downing the water and my vitamins faithfully. The weather has FINALLY started looking spring-like and I plan to get out and do some serious walking. I'm also going to stop eating after 7:00 in the evening. Baby steps!

Area 2: Family This may sound corny. It may sound annoying. Are you ready? I'm making a concerted effort to have a--it sounds so silly!--"lilt" in my voice. Let me explain. When I speak to my husband and my son, I tend to have a matter-of-fact sound to my voice. Just the facts, ma'am. I noticed that when I talk to others, however, I have a much brighter, happier tone to my voice. I'm calling it a "lilt." For the past two days I have employed that new tone. I have seen AMAZING results. 25 years of marriage and I just noticed this. Oh my. Also, my son turned 9yo today. MY BABY, MY BABY! I'll wipe my tears and move on to the next area.

Area 3: Schedule After weeks of fine-tuning my schedule, I'm about ready to "unveil" it. It's a big deal to me because it is w.o.r.k.i.n.g! I'll share it in case something useful might pop up for someone else.

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance Now that our weather is changing (finally), my lower body will get some exposure. I'm going to take care of that and also dig out my sandals and get them spruced up. I did a post about shoe care HERE that I thought I'd bring up with this (finally) change of season.

Area 5: Debt I just found out that the company that does our IRA has a cool program. We just switched to them in 2010. For the first four years we're with their company, they will contribute 4% of whatever WE put into our IRA to our account. How cool is that? It doesn't help our debt now, but we have been putting into an IRA since we were 24yo. Hopefully that will be a great thing when we "retire."

Area 6: Garden I got all my early seeds planted! I hope I didn't water them too much. I have 2162 varieties of lettuce, 8492 tomato plants, a lot of flowers, and, of all things, OKRA. We'll see how that goes. (My numbers may not be quite accurate--maybe it just SEEMED like I planted that many.)

Canisters: Thinking out of the box

2011-04-07T14:55:00.003-04:00

I had to laugh at myself today. The sun is shining brightly (finally), which means that I can really see all the dirt and dust everywhere. That means it needs to be cleaned! One of the things I cleaned was my white kitchen canisters. They're all spiffy now, but what I actually was laughing about is what I have IN my canisters.

Manufacturers have spent literally decades trying to tell me what to put into my canisters. The picture above (click to see it in its original format) are all labeled with permanent ink and meant to be obeyed. Flour is always the biggest one. For some reason, rice wanted to be with the other staples.

But not in my kitchen. I have four canisters. The largest perfectly holds a 5 pound bag of sugar. My flour goes in the freezer (if store bought) to reduce rancidity, or I grind my own fresh. The next size (where "they" wanted me to put the sugar) holds BROWN sugar. It's used quite often for oatmeal and quickie baked apples. Guess what's in my third canisters? Nothing the manufacturers suggest, that's for sure. My third one holds coconut. I use it very often to sprinkle on salads, fruits, oatmeal, and broccoli.

Yes, broccoli. Not for me-- I like broccoli. My son, however, is mightily against the green veggie. If I chop it up very small and add a generous sprinkle of coconut, he endures the broccoli. Whatever it takes, eh?

The littlest canister holds an entire box of Stevia. This sweetener is actually GOOD for you. It is not made of chemicals but comes from a plant. Click HERE if you'd like to know about it.

So, what's in YOUR canister set? Do you follow directions or do you live on the edge like I do?

Resolution Tuesday: 39 Weeks to Go

2011-04-05T19:40:00.004-04:00

Making the Bed: A Poll

2011-04-02T14:04:00.007-04:00

(This photo comes from one of my favorite blogs. Click on the pic to see the full post.)

I've come a long way. Back in college, my bed was lucky to have SHEETS on it, much less being made up on a regular basis. I had more important things to do--like tear up the ice-covered hill to make it to my first class on time because I overslept!

That was then. This is now. About a year after I got married, I discovered the bliss that is a well-made bed. I found that getting into a well-made bed guaranteed that the covers would be distributed evenly across both husband AND wife. I found that the smoothness of the fitted sheet encouraged quick slumber rather than flopping about trying to get the wrinkles out from under my back.

In fact, I have become so addicted to the comfort of a well-made bed for when I'm ready to slumber that I have banned my husband from making the bed.

It's not a personality disorder. It's not a quirk. It's a God-given right!

That's how I feel about. How do you feel about it? Poll time! Come and vote.

Resolution Tuesday: 40 Weeks to Go

2011-03-31T11:58:00.007-04:00

Being sick last week caused me to miss Week 41. I'm a tad late on Week 40, but it's done!

As I posted HERE, I am going to "report in" on my resolution progress each work for the entire year. I had six areas (the seventh was doing this reporting) to which I wanted to give special attention. Posting about it keeps me accountable, which I find very helpful. I hope you don't mind!)

Area 1: Weight

I'm down 2 pounds! Ramping up the veggies definitely is useful.

Area 2: Family

This is a big one for me. In 30 years, my husband has always been amenable to whatever my movie/video choices have been. He's never balked at my inclusion of "chick flicks" even. Recently, I realized that it has been balanced in MY direction for too long. I have committed to watching a "guy" video more often. It's torture for me, but I'm going to do it. He's always watched them by himself, but I know he would like us to "be together" rather than apart in separate rooms. I will bite the bullet and....mercy....watch a movie of his choice. Oy.

Area 3: Schedule

I spent the weekend pulling together all my son's homeschooling journey to take to our evaluator. It was a work of art when I got done! My sister and I travel an hour to her house (we make a day of it with shopping and play areas for the kids). I hauled a crate full of stuff and we went through the entire year of his schooling. I love doing this. It's fun to look back and see how far he's come and also to plan toward the future. He passed with flying colors!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

Though 4-6 inches of snow is forecast for us (I thought it was going to be last night, but I guess it's tomorrow), I still see so many signs of spring. One of those is my very sad feet who have lived in utter darkness for months now. It's time for a pedi!

Area 5: Debt

Ever since I posted about Zero Waste, I've been keeping tabs on our own usage. It's rather dismal. I know that making some changes in my thinking will also affect the amount of money that goes out. We cleaned out my son's room (his birthday is in a week), and donated a full bag of things he no longer needs or wants to play with. I also talked to him about what happens to the things we throw away. It was enlightening to both of us.

Area 6: Garden

Guess what?? We purchased seeds! I will be getting some soil starter and planting my seed flats in the next few days. We bought no GMO, untreated seeds at our little local seed and feed store. The owner of the store gave me a fun little tip regarding "last frost" in our state: If there's no more snow on _____ mountain's nose, you can safely plant in the ground. Cool!

(Picture from HERE)

Sick, again.

2011-03-23T16:52:00.002-04:00

OK, this is just the pits. I've still had the lingering cough from when I caught the 'flu back in February. Then, I woke up this morning with chills and aches and nausea AGAIN. See the lady to the left? That is me. Except with better hair. And thin.

I digress.

I'm on top of things by getting rest, taking pain meds and drinking lots of Echinacea. The homeschooling miraculously got done today, but that's about it.

My immune system has been accosted and I didn't do anything to get it strengthened back up. If you are well and healthy, make sure you pay attention to that immune system!

On a more uplifting note, spring is mentioning moving in our way. We've been here long enough to know that "spring snows" are also still on the horizon. Monday, however, we saw a load of robins descend upon our yard and attempt to clear out all the worms I didn't know were under the ground. It's really fun watching their little fat selves waddle around and pull and pull and then gobble up the worm.

Having grown up in Florida, the robins showed up in the FALL, not the spring. They were also lean and mean. After a winter in tropical conditions, they (for some unknown reason) choose to fly north again and lose all their winter weight.

What can I learn from their methods? Well, actually nothing. I can't fly, so that's out. I'm not going to eat worms (wave of nausea--stop it, Roxanne!). Wait, there is one thing: Exercise is a good thing.

Also, that red is NOT slimming when you're waddling around looking for worms.

A Kitchen Questionaire!

2011-03-17T07:11:00.007-04:00

I'm addicted to lists and forms. My husband says I'm the Queen of Lists and Forms. He's hinted that I go overboard just a little bit about them. I have no idea what he's talking about. With that knowledge, it shouldn't surprise you that when I came across this "meme," I just had to fill in the answers! I don't like to do memes about me (mostly because I'm just not all that interesting), but my kitchen, now THAT I'll talk about!

Welcome to My Kitchen

1. Do you have magnets on your fridge? Just a couple. One is a Lightning McQueen. Guess who put that there?

2. Do you have a calendar in the kitchen and if so, what is it’s theme? Not in my kitchen—it’s next to my desk. The theme is whatever the local hardware store chooses! 3. What is your favorite kitchen gadget or tool? Toaster oven. We use it like a microwave to heat leftovers and for small batch cooking rather than heating up the large oven. 4. Are you lucky enough to have a pantry of some kind? My husband blessed me with the bestest pantry ever. Click HERE to see it! 5. What is your favorite appliance? The dishwasher. Oh, yes. 6. Do you have an eat in kitchen? Nope. 7. Do you have a bread box? Yes. It’s chrome and sits on top of the frig (the only place I could find to put it). It does not hold bread. It holds desserts!

8. Do you have a picture of your kids on the fridge? No. I have lots of pictures DRAWN by my kid on the frig, though. 9. Do you ever cook breakfast in your pjs? I try not to, but sometimes it is what it is. 10. Do you have a favorite cookbook? My 1955 “Gem of a Cookbook." 11. Are you lucky enough to have recipes that were passed down from your mom and grandma? No. My grandmother was an amazing cook. My aunt got all her recipes and she won’t share! 12. What’s your favorite food? BBQ ribs. Smoked BBQ ribs. Southern smoked BBQ ribs cooked in a dive of a restaurant. Um Hm. 13. What’s your favorite thing to cook? I don’t like to cook. My favorite thing is when someone ELSE cooks! 14. Is your coffee pot electric or stove top? Electric. It’s an espresso machine. 15. Do you make your own bread? No. I want to, I really do. One day I will actually do it. 16. Does your kitchen have a theme? Sorta, kinda 50s inspired? 17. Is there a clock in your kitchen? Yes. One way above the sink and a digital on the stove. I need the one above the sink because my stove clock is also the timer. It drives me crazy when I look at it and see "1:45" and it's actually 5pm. I feel like I'm in a time warp! 18. Do you have a bowl of fruit on your table or counter? Yes, two. One with apples, one with oranges. 19. What type of canisters do you have? White fluted ceramic. I love them. 20. Name one thing you have hanging on the wall in your kitchen. A copper jello mold over my stove. See, that's my 50s theme! 21. What’s for supper tonight? Leftovers 22. Do you have enough cabinet space? Almost. Just ONE more small base cabinet with a drawer would be perfect.

23. Does your family use paper plates? No. They don't hold up well in the dishwasher. 24. Do you have a good set of china packed up? Not packed up, but not used as often as I’d like. 25. Do you wear an apron to work in the kitchen? I’m working on this one. I really need to. When I actually DO cook, I'm notorious for wiping my hands down the front of my pants or skirt. Over and over. It's pathetic, really. 26. Name one thing you would change about your kitchen if you could. Tear up the annoying tile and put down one big sheet of smooth, yet rugged 50s style linoleum!

Join me in sharing about your kitchen!

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See Lily's answers at The Amber Lily.

See Packrat's answers at Swatting at Flies.

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Resolution Tuesday: 42 Weeks to Go

2011-03-15T16:07:00.003-04:00

As I posted HERE, I am going to "report in" on my resolution progress each work for the entire year. I had six areas (the seventh was doing this reporting) to which I wanted to give special attention. Posting about it keeps me accountable, which I find very helpful. I hope you don't mind!)

Area 1: Weight

No change this week. I have been exercising and increasing my veggie intake. At each supper, I'm having both a salad and a cooked vegetable.

Area 2: Family

One area this week is standing out for me: Clothes. Whenever I get behind in the laundry, it's evident that it's a lot easier to live when I don't get behind! In the past I thought it would be best to have enough clothes on hand that, if I did fall behind no one would run out of the essentials. Well, that makes for a lot of clothes! It also provides a temptation to put off the laundry since there's still plenty to wear. My goal is to reduce (surprise!) our clothing needs, to actual NEEDS. (My son volunteered to wear his Carlos-from-the-Magic-School-Bus outfit every day. I said no.)

Area 3: Schedule

After writing up my Five Year Plan for our yard, I hyperventilated a little when I realized how very, very busy my life is going to become in about eight weeks in order to do this properly. I breathed slowly, got control, and began to think about how to incorporate it all. Then I hyperventilated again!

Area 4: Chassis Maintenance

I cleaned out my toiletries area and put some nice smelling shower gel into the shower. These are the ones I saved from the last time I did this. I still pared down, but I WILL be using them!

Area 5: Debt

There's one area (still) that I find the most difficult to change in order to fully attack our debt (and my weight loss) and that is eating out. One (weekly) purchase is coffees and pastries on Sunday morning. We have to be at church early as my husband is part of the worship band. We also live 30 minutes away. To facilitate peace and smooth preparations on Sunday morning, we've stopped at our favorite convenience store for quite a long time. This week I made it a point to buy something "treaty" and save it for Sunday morning. For the same amount of money that we spend each week, I was able to buy enough for four Sunday mornings. Reduce, reduce, reduce!

Area 6: Garden

I'm still patting myself on the back for completing my Five Year Plan! Our highs are in the 40s this week and the huge amounts of snow are starting to melt away. A friend even mentioned seeing a robin (though we haven't seen one ourselves, yet). Spring? Are you coming?

My Five Year Plan

2011-03-13T07:15:00.002-04:00

As I look out my window at the huge piles of snow, I'm smiling a little smile. That's because I have just completed my "Five Year Plan" for our 3/4 acre of property. I have decided to see if I could put together something that would take our lot in this little town and turn it from a property tax guzzler to something that actually contributes to our family.

Our property is fairly bare. We have a giant ugly pine tree (that I hate and my husband says we have to keep) to work with. We also have a steep ravine at the back of the property. On the left is a stand of trees that nicely shields us from those neighbors, and then a big nothing on the south side that ends at the top of the hill and the other neighbor's house.

Before the snow arrived a few months ago, I made a bunch of measurements to give my drawings some rough accuracy. I'm not an artist, but I think my drawings give a decent layout of our yard. Below is how it is now. The amoeba at the front right corner of the house is a hydrangea bush. There's another little hydrangea (that is not happy where it is) at the corner of the screened porch in the back. There is a fenced area (where you see "pool") that has been a play yard for my son. He's too old for that now (sniff). (Click on the pics to enlarge.)

The next drawing is my plan for this year (which is not all that far away--I hope). I'm calling it "Year 1." The additions and changes are indicated in each drawing by colored pencil. The biggest endeavor in Year 1 will be the garden. We'll also be waltzing a bunch of plants to new places. The sad little hydrangea will move from the porch to the edge of the garage. There is some mint planted where the garden will go. It's heading over to cozy next to the porch. A bushy lilac is going to relocate to the edge of the southern side of our property to provide a bit of a divider. There's actually no division between our property and the neighbor's on that side (as I said), so I'm going to attempt to visually divide it. A fence would be way too expensive.

Along with moving plants, we'll also be adding a screen of sunflowers near the pool. We'll need that because we're taking the fencing out, but leaving the posts so that we won't have to walk around to get to the garden. I will leave two sections of fence in one corner and plant some herbs for convenience to the kitchen. The north side of the garden will be lined with trellis type thingys my husband built last year. That, too, will provide some screening.

Near the house (and the water supply) we're going to put in a compost area. I'm very excited about that. I need to get out more.

If all goes well in 2011, 2012 will bring some much desired edible landscaping. We'll have a year to save up for them as well as spreading the word to friends and neighbors and Craigslist and whatever to see if we can't just get some or all of them for free!

We intend to add several more fruit trees to our "orchard" area, for one. That's why the lilac had to move. There are already blueberries growing under our porch. For some reason, they LOVE it there, so we're going to encourage more growth. In the right back area, we're going to start a rhubarb and asparagus bed. Plenty of sun and good drainage.

Two years down and (hopefully) things are being maintained and are flourishing. If we're still here (one never knows), Year 3 will see the addition of some nut trees and a willow in the front corner of our lot. Once again, a little help with screening but EDIBLE (one day). The willow is just for looks. I'm not interested in making a salad out of it. Another addition to the front will be some slate (we have a free source) to give a walking path to our front door. Six years ago my husband took out the sidewalk. I don't know why. It was gone before I knew it. Since then we've been walking on the grass.

Finally, I'm actually going to give growing "grains" a go. I'm very trepidatious, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. ("Grained?") I intend to try some sweet corn, oats, and/or quinoa. We'll see. I've not done much research in this area.

You know what our self-sustaining venture needs? Farm "animals." I'm starting easy, though. I'm going to start with a worm bin. I forgot to color it in, but it's at the very bottom right of the drawing.

By Year 4 our yard should have been earning its keep a whole lot more than ever. What about a little crop that actually brings a bit of a profit? Maybe two?

Live Christmas trees are big up here. As you know, we're an artificial tree family. (Aluminum preferred by me but not popular with the other members of the family. Sigh.) That big ol' section to the left is just crying out for something to fill it. A little ambitious maybe?

In Year 1 I branched out into "farm animals" by the making of a worm bin. I, too, think that I'm stretching things a bit by calling worms "farm animals." Well, how about THIS idea: Chickens! I've been against them until just recently. I don't like it when critters die. It's emotionally draining. (Will I cry if the worms die?) On the other hand, I love farm fresh eggs. Chickens are great bug catchers AND (did you know this?) great mousers! If we were to consider getting some layers, I think we'd want to go with a tractor system for the coop so that they don't scratch up all the grass in one section of our yard. By moving them around, it might prove more beneficial to the land. Having farm animals is definitely a stretch for me. That's why it's in Year 4!

(Our place is zoned for farm use. We could have a herd of cattle back there if we wanted. We don't.)

Year 5 is upon us. My son is 13yo (WHAT!!!). Our property is teeming with edible plants. Chickens are clucking contentedly. Baby Christmas trees are growing happily. What could possibly be missing?

How about a greenhouse to extend our very short growing season? My husband has wanted one of those for years. If we manage to add this, we'll actually make a door that will allow us to enter the greenhouse via the house. My husband believes that it will provide loads of heat to our house as well as the extended season for plants. Passive solar power. Maybe we could really pull it off!

Finally, if the chickens work out, I will give definite thought to adding another "farm animal." Rabbits. The biggest reason that I'm even considering them is for their, well, their manure. If they produce enough, we could actually package it and sell it at our local farm co-op. Also, they're quiet and they're sweet and cuddly. Unfortunately, they die, too. That part is what caused me to push them off to Year 5!

So, there it is. My Five Year Plan. Now that I know my intended goals, I can start the step-by-step process to make it happen. First up? Planting seeds in seed trays with grow lights. We'll be doing that in about 4 weeks.

I'm chompin' at the bit!

Zero Waste--Could I do it? Could you?

2011-03-11T07:20:00.004-05:00

This was featured on the Yahoo page recently. The family in this video have a wonderful website, too: The Zero Waste Home.

I am a big fan of decluttering. I believe in its resulting ability to have MORE freedom to do the things that are really important. After watching this video, however, I looked around and was appalled at the hoarding I apparently still do, LOL!

Actually, the video did give me more encouragement to continue on my path to live simply and as self-reliantly as possible. I jumped up and attacked some of the needy areas in my house in response.

I'm nowhere near their level of having only a handful of garbage after 4 months. But, it is certainly a worthwhile goal to try. I do love her idea of taking glass jars to the grocery store, but I'm not quite sure how that would all work out. Any ideas? I'm thinking they just buy everything in bulk and get a tare on the jar like they do at the health food store.

What did you think about those under the counter units?

Is this inspiring to you or just plain scary?

Desperation: The Mother of Invention

2011-03-10T10:27:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I took my son to the local dental hygiene school to have sealants put on his permanent molars. We don't have insurance, so we make liberal use of the dental school. The great part is the cost ($21 for two cleanings and 2 sets of X-rays the last time we went), and the thorough job the students do--they're being graded!

The downside is that all that attention to detail and waiting for the instructors to check on things takes a VERY long time. Two to three hours!

When I made the appointment for the sealants, I (silly me) thought we'd be in and out of there in under an hour. We were not. After 2 1/2 hours, they finally finished and we went off to do errands. (The reward for my son being extremely cooperative was getting to go to a new library. Woo hoo!)

We didn't get home until almost 6pm. My supper plans were all off, and I didn't want to order pizza. I decided to try to slap something together out of my pantry. If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know that cooking is NOT my forte. This time, however, the results actually tasted good! (Cue Hallelujah Chorus).

I thought I'd share my "recipe" with you:

Roxanne's Pantry Slap Together Stuff (Good name, huh?)

Ingredients:

Leftover rice (We had about 1 1/2 cups of yellow rice left over from the night before.)
2 cups Ground Beef Mix (Already frozen)
1 large can of Progresso Hearty Tomato Soup
(Next time I'm going to use mild salsa which I always have on the shelf.)
1 16 oz. can of refried BLACK beans (This, my friends, is what pulled it all together.)
Enough water to make a thick soup consistency
Shredded cheese
Tortillas

To make: Dump all together and heat. Put chips in the bottom of the bowl, ladle on the THICK mixture, top with the cheese. Pat self on back.

The secret ingredient to my success: