March is right around the corner, and March means spring, whether or not the current weather conditions reflect that or not. In the old days, spring cleaning was an annual ritual, and many people still do a scrubbing and purging in the first warm season of the year.
For this week, our challenge is to get a little start on that spring cleaning by tackling your closets. In particular, your bedroom closets and your coat closet(s).
My plan is to start with articles of clothing in those closets, and see which items can be released from our possession. In other words, which pieces of clothes aren't going to get worn at this little place here any more, so I might as well donate them. Donate either to someone I know who could use that exact item (such as a child-size Carhartt coat that my kids all grew out of but will fit a little boy at church whose parents would appreciate him having it), or donate to charity such as Goodwill or Salvation Army or St. Vincent's.
Once you've gone through the clothes and outerwear, if you still have time and energy, see if there are any shoes, boots, or accessories that are also sitting around gathering dust. And whatever else you might find stashed in your closets that you have forgotten about.
Has it still got life left in it? Donate it. Is it worn out beyond any future usefulness? Trash it.
I'm betting that once you've gone through that process, your closets will suddenly be a whole lot cleaner. Mine usually are. And while each closet is empty from all your removing and sorting, get rid of the cobwebs in the corners and sweep or vacuum the floor. Then put back in the things that you are keeping; the things that still have purpose for you.
What an accomplishment! Closets done. Now you have a big head start on your spring cleaning.
If you're feeling really ambitious, do the same with your dressers. Then, sometime in the coming week, drop off everything you decided to donate.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
So It's Cold. . . That Doesn't Mean I'm Incapacitated
This is what the thermometer looked like at 8:30 a.m. Mind you, this was after I'd gone to the horse farm, fed and watered the horses, then drove home again and fed and watered my chickens. Also after DH had stoked the wood boiler and gone to work, DD1 had gone to work, and DD2 had gone to school.
A little bit cold.
This is what the field looked like at the same time, since the wind was cranking about 20 mph from the north, and it was also snowing lightly. I'd driven through pretty much white-out conditions on my way home from the horse farm ten minutes earlier.
Just for kicks and comparison, here are two pictures of my driveway.
Today, when I got home:
And, taken from just about the same spot, a few weeks ago after I'd been out plowing, when it wasn't currently blowing snow:
What is my point so far? Well, that it is a) pretty cold out, and b) that our daily activities went as normal, despite the cold, wind, and snowy conditions. Stoke the boiler, go to work, go to school, feed the animals. The weather has not hindered us today.
Yesterday was cold and windy too, although minus the snow shower. I did a lot of indoor activities yesterday, just as I have planned for today. Yesterday I baked bread, made granola, made banana bars, made chicken and dumplings for dinner, did five loads of laundry, and sewed myself a new apron. The weather might have kept me indoors more than usual, but it certainly didn't hamper my productivity.
This is what the field looked like at the same time, since the wind was cranking about 20 mph from the north, and it was also snowing lightly. I'd driven through pretty much white-out conditions on my way home from the horse farm ten minutes earlier.
Just for kicks and comparison, here are two pictures of my driveway.
Today, when I got home:
And, taken from just about the same spot, a few weeks ago after I'd been out plowing, when it wasn't currently blowing snow:
What is my point so far? Well, that it is a) pretty cold out, and b) that our daily activities went as normal, despite the cold, wind, and snowy conditions. Stoke the boiler, go to work, go to school, feed the animals. The weather has not hindered us today.
Yesterday was cold and windy too, although minus the snow shower. I did a lot of indoor activities yesterday, just as I have planned for today. Yesterday I baked bread, made granola, made banana bars, made chicken and dumplings for dinner, did five loads of laundry, and sewed myself a new apron. The weather might have kept me indoors more than usual, but it certainly didn't hamper my productivity.
my new apron
close up of apron fabric
Likewise, the weather is not incapacitating me today either. Breakfast was made and served and eaten. Animals have been taken care of. Housework (and cleaning) will get done. I'm planning to run some errands later this morning when the snow (but not the wind) stops. I'll probably do some knitting on my latest pair of socks.
sock underway,
in trekking xxl yarn, color #470
(on size 0 needles, rather than the 2's recommended, which is probably why I am getting psychedelic pooling rather than the self-striping the yarn is known for)
Dinner will get made (tonight's menu: venison sloppy joes with either baked sweet potatoes, or sweet potato fries, I haven't totally decided yet). I will go to Parent Night at the high school (last home basketball game of the year) and walk with DD2 when she is introduced as one of the varsity cheerleaders. I will go to choir practice. Life will continue, despite the fact that it is cold outside.
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Plugging My Ears and Closing My Eyes
That is what I feel like doing lately, with all the hyping of weather conditions that this winter has had in the media. Attention grabbing headlines on the internet, fear mongering on the television stations, and people are all whipped up about any little change in weather. Or lack of change in weather (ooooh, it's been below freezing for 30 entire days in January!!)
Temperatures rise above freezing? Oh my goodness, all this snow is going to melt in an instant and cause flash floods, and we're all going to die!!!
Temperatures hover at freezing, and precipitation highly likely? Oh my goodness, it's going to be an ice storm of epic proportions!! And you know what happened last time you had an ice storm, right? Your power was out for nearly a week. Fear! Panic! Horror!
Temperatures below freezing? Oh my goodness, we are having such cold, cold weather waaaaayyyyy below normal temperatures for this time of the year! It's the beginning of the next Ice Age.
Temperatures below freezing with more snow on the way? Oh my goodness, everyone is going to get snowed in and starve to death! Rooves are going to cave in under all the weight of the snow!!
Bah. That's what I say. Bah. Baloney. Bullsh--. Just shut up all ready. Take a look at the numbers, that's all that is relevant. The number that tells high and low temperatures for the day. The number that tells the percentage chance of precipitation and the number that says how much precipitation in inches. The number that tells you wind speed. Looking at the letter or letters that indicate wind direction are pretty telling too. But don't look at any words!! Don't read those!! Don't listen to those!! Those are where they throw in the stuff that sells. Fear!!
High temperatures in Michigan in late February and early March that are in the teens and twenties? Yeah, lower than average, but not unheard of. Not anything to get your panties in a wad over. Ice storms this time of year? Pretty typical, actually. When your temperature is bouncing in and out of the thirties and there is precipitation (and there is always precipitation in late Feb. and early March) you are going to get one of two things pretty much daily: rain turning to ice, or wet heavy snow. Yeah, your power might go out. You have lived through this before, if you've lived in Michigan for more than a few years, so you should know this is normal, and you should be prepared.
What you should not be doing is letting the media whip you all into a frenzy. When can you pack away your ice scraper, snow shovel, and winter gear? In June, duh. Because that is the first month you are pretty much guaranteed to not need them anymore. Late February is not the end of winter. Nor is the beginning of March. There is no magic switch that turns the weather to a consistent fifty degrees and ends all possibility of snow or ice. To think that at this time of year you're going to have anything other than a fluctuation from freezing to thawing, with occasional cold snaps harking back to mid-winter, is ludicrous.
Okay. Ears stuffed with cotton, eyes focused only on numerical data when I peruse the weather sites for info. No lip reading when the weatherman on TV gives his report. Nope. Save the words for something else. As far as the weather forecast is concerned, give me data; it doesn't stretch the truth. Besides, the forecast is at best a pretty good guess, by computers, based on past and present atmospheric conditions, at what the atmosphere is going to be like in the future. It is not infallible. It is not written in stone. It is not anything to dose yourself with anti-anxiety meds over. Weather has been happening since time immemorial, and the world has not ended yet.
End rant.
Temperatures rise above freezing? Oh my goodness, all this snow is going to melt in an instant and cause flash floods, and we're all going to die!!!
Temperatures hover at freezing, and precipitation highly likely? Oh my goodness, it's going to be an ice storm of epic proportions!! And you know what happened last time you had an ice storm, right? Your power was out for nearly a week. Fear! Panic! Horror!
Temperatures below freezing? Oh my goodness, we are having such cold, cold weather waaaaayyyyy below normal temperatures for this time of the year! It's the beginning of the next Ice Age.
Temperatures below freezing with more snow on the way? Oh my goodness, everyone is going to get snowed in and starve to death! Rooves are going to cave in under all the weight of the snow!!
Bah. That's what I say. Bah. Baloney. Bullsh--. Just shut up all ready. Take a look at the numbers, that's all that is relevant. The number that tells high and low temperatures for the day. The number that tells the percentage chance of precipitation and the number that says how much precipitation in inches. The number that tells you wind speed. Looking at the letter or letters that indicate wind direction are pretty telling too. But don't look at any words!! Don't read those!! Don't listen to those!! Those are where they throw in the stuff that sells. Fear!!
High temperatures in Michigan in late February and early March that are in the teens and twenties? Yeah, lower than average, but not unheard of. Not anything to get your panties in a wad over. Ice storms this time of year? Pretty typical, actually. When your temperature is bouncing in and out of the thirties and there is precipitation (and there is always precipitation in late Feb. and early March) you are going to get one of two things pretty much daily: rain turning to ice, or wet heavy snow. Yeah, your power might go out. You have lived through this before, if you've lived in Michigan for more than a few years, so you should know this is normal, and you should be prepared.
What you should not be doing is letting the media whip you all into a frenzy. When can you pack away your ice scraper, snow shovel, and winter gear? In June, duh. Because that is the first month you are pretty much guaranteed to not need them anymore. Late February is not the end of winter. Nor is the beginning of March. There is no magic switch that turns the weather to a consistent fifty degrees and ends all possibility of snow or ice. To think that at this time of year you're going to have anything other than a fluctuation from freezing to thawing, with occasional cold snaps harking back to mid-winter, is ludicrous.
Okay. Ears stuffed with cotton, eyes focused only on numerical data when I peruse the weather sites for info. No lip reading when the weatherman on TV gives his report. Nope. Save the words for something else. As far as the weather forecast is concerned, give me data; it doesn't stretch the truth. Besides, the forecast is at best a pretty good guess, by computers, based on past and present atmospheric conditions, at what the atmosphere is going to be like in the future. It is not infallible. It is not written in stone. It is not anything to dose yourself with anti-anxiety meds over. Weather has been happening since time immemorial, and the world has not ended yet.
End rant.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
A Last Good Round of Cold
The temperatures have begun falling again at this little place here.
The weekend was nice, hovering around the freezing mark, and I finished pruning the orchard, while DH decided to haul in a few more loads of wood with the Bearcat and the dog sled. You can never have enough wood, you know.
We lost quite a bit of snow at the end of last week. Not counting where it was drifted, I'd say there is only about 4-5" left on the ground in most places. And the paths we used all winter are down to bare ground now.
Yesterday, the weather turned toward the colder side again. Temperatures are supposed to continue dropping, down, down, even getting below zero at night, until the end of this week. Then they will slowly go back up again.
Being that this is the last week of February, I predict this cold spell will be the last good round of cold for the winter. March is, after all, by and large a muddy month. Can't very well have mud when your daytime high is only twenty degrees.
Besides, March is tree tapping time. And sap doesn't really run until you have strings of days over forty degrees.
So, we're looking eagerly to this cold snap. It is a harbinger of spring to come, of a warming trend due to start any time now. And once that happens, things will really be hopping around here. For after sap season comes gardening season. Gardening season is long, and busy. Sun up til sun down kind of work hours.
I've all ready got my seeds and onion starts ordered. Most of my seeds have arrived. Time to bring the seed starting supplies in from the barn and let them warm up. Time to rearrange things in the house to make room for seed trays and grow lights.
Time to enjoy the cold, and the respite from work that winter brings, before it is gone.
The weekend was nice, hovering around the freezing mark, and I finished pruning the orchard, while DH decided to haul in a few more loads of wood with the Bearcat and the dog sled. You can never have enough wood, you know.
We lost quite a bit of snow at the end of last week. Not counting where it was drifted, I'd say there is only about 4-5" left on the ground in most places. And the paths we used all winter are down to bare ground now.
Yesterday, the weather turned toward the colder side again. Temperatures are supposed to continue dropping, down, down, even getting below zero at night, until the end of this week. Then they will slowly go back up again.
Being that this is the last week of February, I predict this cold spell will be the last good round of cold for the winter. March is, after all, by and large a muddy month. Can't very well have mud when your daytime high is only twenty degrees.
Besides, March is tree tapping time. And sap doesn't really run until you have strings of days over forty degrees.
So, we're looking eagerly to this cold snap. It is a harbinger of spring to come, of a warming trend due to start any time now. And once that happens, things will really be hopping around here. For after sap season comes gardening season. Gardening season is long, and busy. Sun up til sun down kind of work hours.
I've all ready got my seeds and onion starts ordered. Most of my seeds have arrived. Time to bring the seed starting supplies in from the barn and let them warm up. Time to rearrange things in the house to make room for seed trays and grow lights.
Time to enjoy the cold, and the respite from work that winter brings, before it is gone.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Something New Out Of Something Old
I've been working on a jean quilt for about a month. I had a stash of old jeans, denim shorts, and denim shirts that were worn out, or stained, or otherwise unfit for donation. The intent of the stash, when I began collecting it, was to make myself a denim quilt the same size as the one I'd made DH several years ago. He uses his when camping, and since we don't own sleeping bags, I thought it would be nice to have one of my own so that when camping together we could layer them just like when you zip two same size sleeping bags together to make one large one.
When I decided it was time to tackle that stash of off-cast denim and turn it into a quilt, I began by cutting the seams out of several pairs of old jeans. The seams are just too hard to work with in a quilt; the denim itself is thick, and when you are trying to sew two pieces together, that is a tall task for a sewing machine needle. To ask it to do two pieces when one or both of them includes a seam . . . well, expect a lot of broken needles. I did keep some of the pockets, if they were fairly thin, just to add interest to my quilt, but tried to cut them so that no existing seams were on the sewing lines.
In my stash, I also found a few pair of worn out denim shorts of mine that I had forgotten about; a gingham checked pair and a yellow pair. There was also a peach colored denim shirt DH had gotten me in 1998 when he was on assignment out in New Jersey for 5 months (and I was home alone with four young kids). I'd worn that shirt till the cuffs and collar frayed and it had many stains on it. But there was still usable fabric, so it too had gone into the box with the future denim quilt fodder. I guess you could say that shirt has some meaning, since I obviously kept it with the intent of making a quilt out of it despite it's stains.
Once I had the shorts, the shirt, and about eight pair of jeans cut into 6" squares, I started counting. I needed 300 squares for my project. On average, I was getting 20 squares from an adult size pair of jeans, so that gave me a pretty good guess at how many more pairs of jeans I needed to pull out of the stash in order to have enough denim squares. Some of the oldest jeans I found were larger child sizes, even a few pair with embroidery on the legs, and I used those also. I think I ended up with two extra squares in the end. They'll go to some future project. The box of old jeans did not get totally emptied before I hit my 300 squares, so obviously there are some more recycled denim creations in the years to come.
I like my jean quilts to be random, rather than a planned pattern of colors, so once I had all 300 squares cut, I used my highly scientific method of organizing them into a random assortment: I tossed them, one by one, around my bedroom floor, being careful none of them went under the bed or dressers. Then I picked them up into twenty stacks of fifteen squares. Sort of like the 'fifty-two pick up' method of shuffling cards. Voila, no planned pattern here!
Sewing those stacks into twenty rows of fifteen squares each, pressing them after each row was sewn, and sewing those twenty rows into a quilt top took a while. I was near the end of all that sewing when I realized I didn't have any large pieces of flannel for the backing. All the other jean quilts I've made, I've used flannel for the back. Being so heavy, denim quilts don't really need batting for warmth, just a nice fuzzy backing.
Now, I could have gone to the fabric store and purchased about 6-7 yards of new fabric. But I didn't want to. Not only didn't I want to cough up the money for new fabric, I had remembered that eons ago, I had bought a huge piece of mint green baby wale corduroy (most likely on sale) with the intent of making my daughters some jumpers. I'd never actually gotten around to making those jumpers, so that massive cut of corduroy should still be in my possession somewhere.
I located it, unfolded it, and was pleased to see it was enough to back my newly made quilt top with (plus about 2/3 yard to spare!). Hooray! Being baby wale, it is soft, almost like flannel. And corduroy is a warm fabric too. Plus, green is my favorite color, so being a light green made it the perfect thing to use for the backing of my very own personal jean quilt.
Before sewing the top to the backing, I took five minutes to stitch my name in one of the squares. Just because I can, and I wanted to. DH's quilt has his name stitched on it (less likely to get 'accidentally' swiped by one of his camping buddies on the times I'm not on the same trip), so I felt since I was making a sorta matched set with mine, it needed my name on it. I used embroidery floss in an shade that is pretty much an exact match to the corduroy.
Once the top and the back had been stitched together, and turned right side out, came the pinning. This is to keep the two layers aligned so that there would be no shifting or bunching while I tied the quilt. I commandeered the floor where the living room and dining room meet for the pinning and tying. I used some variegated yarn in blues, greens, and yellows to tie the quilt with.
Then I had a finished quilt!
When I decided it was time to tackle that stash of off-cast denim and turn it into a quilt, I began by cutting the seams out of several pairs of old jeans. The seams are just too hard to work with in a quilt; the denim itself is thick, and when you are trying to sew two pieces together, that is a tall task for a sewing machine needle. To ask it to do two pieces when one or both of them includes a seam . . . well, expect a lot of broken needles. I did keep some of the pockets, if they were fairly thin, just to add interest to my quilt, but tried to cut them so that no existing seams were on the sewing lines.
In my stash, I also found a few pair of worn out denim shorts of mine that I had forgotten about; a gingham checked pair and a yellow pair. There was also a peach colored denim shirt DH had gotten me in 1998 when he was on assignment out in New Jersey for 5 months (and I was home alone with four young kids). I'd worn that shirt till the cuffs and collar frayed and it had many stains on it. But there was still usable fabric, so it too had gone into the box with the future denim quilt fodder. I guess you could say that shirt has some meaning, since I obviously kept it with the intent of making a quilt out of it despite it's stains.
Once I had the shorts, the shirt, and about eight pair of jeans cut into 6" squares, I started counting. I needed 300 squares for my project. On average, I was getting 20 squares from an adult size pair of jeans, so that gave me a pretty good guess at how many more pairs of jeans I needed to pull out of the stash in order to have enough denim squares. Some of the oldest jeans I found were larger child sizes, even a few pair with embroidery on the legs, and I used those also. I think I ended up with two extra squares in the end. They'll go to some future project. The box of old jeans did not get totally emptied before I hit my 300 squares, so obviously there are some more recycled denim creations in the years to come.
I like my jean quilts to be random, rather than a planned pattern of colors, so once I had all 300 squares cut, I used my highly scientific method of organizing them into a random assortment: I tossed them, one by one, around my bedroom floor, being careful none of them went under the bed or dressers. Then I picked them up into twenty stacks of fifteen squares. Sort of like the 'fifty-two pick up' method of shuffling cards. Voila, no planned pattern here!
Sewing those stacks into twenty rows of fifteen squares each, pressing them after each row was sewn, and sewing those twenty rows into a quilt top took a while. I was near the end of all that sewing when I realized I didn't have any large pieces of flannel for the backing. All the other jean quilts I've made, I've used flannel for the back. Being so heavy, denim quilts don't really need batting for warmth, just a nice fuzzy backing.
Now, I could have gone to the fabric store and purchased about 6-7 yards of new fabric. But I didn't want to. Not only didn't I want to cough up the money for new fabric, I had remembered that eons ago, I had bought a huge piece of mint green baby wale corduroy (most likely on sale) with the intent of making my daughters some jumpers. I'd never actually gotten around to making those jumpers, so that massive cut of corduroy should still be in my possession somewhere.
I located it, unfolded it, and was pleased to see it was enough to back my newly made quilt top with (plus about 2/3 yard to spare!). Hooray! Being baby wale, it is soft, almost like flannel. And corduroy is a warm fabric too. Plus, green is my favorite color, so being a light green made it the perfect thing to use for the backing of my very own personal jean quilt.
Before sewing the top to the backing, I took five minutes to stitch my name in one of the squares. Just because I can, and I wanted to. DH's quilt has his name stitched on it (less likely to get 'accidentally' swiped by one of his camping buddies on the times I'm not on the same trip), so I felt since I was making a sorta matched set with mine, it needed my name on it. I used embroidery floss in an shade that is pretty much an exact match to the corduroy.
stitching same color as backing
Once the top and the back had been stitched together, and turned right side out, came the pinning. This is to keep the two layers aligned so that there would be no shifting or bunching while I tied the quilt. I commandeered the floor where the living room and dining room meet for the pinning and tying. I used some variegated yarn in blues, greens, and yellows to tie the quilt with.
Then I had a finished quilt!
all done
pocket from one of DS1's last pair of jeans from high school
embroidered pocket from DD2's middle school years
Without spending any new money, I have a keepsake that is both special, and useful. Old ragged jeans and unused decade (or more!) old fabric have become a new creation.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Old Stuff
Yesterday, DD1 and I went to one of the antique markets in the area. There are several within a twenty minute drive, yet we have very rarely gone to any of them. After yesterday, that is about to change!
We had gone solely because I knew that the lady I buy honey from at the local farmers' market in the summer time also has a booth at this particular antique market. And I am out of honey. No honey means no granola. So, I needed to go to the antique market!
Well, I picked a very good day to do so. I got the honey I needed, and so much more! Not that I spent very much money, just for the honey and for a lovely teacup and matching saucer that I will stash away for DD2's birthday (she collects old teacups). It was the things I didn't spend money on that I most took away from my trip.
First of all, that particular market was having a special chocolate weekend. Many of the vendors had free chocolate delights for your palate's pleasure. Oh my! Free chocolate!! MMMMM!!! So DD1 and I pretty much had chocolate for lunch, and I came away with some new dessert creations to try at home (recipes not provided, but several of them I could figure how to make just from the tasting).
The second thing I came away with was ideas of how to put to use some of the antique and otherwise slightly kitschy items I have at this little place here. Those blue canning jars inherited from DH's grandmother that I haven't dared actually can with because they are so old and valuable? No longer do they need to hide, protected, in my cellar. Nope, they have been moved to the kitchen, where I can enjoy them in an aesthetic manner.
Likewise some of my baskets that I use a lot during the gardening and farmers' market season, yet just take up space in my basement during the rest of the year. Now the ones that fit above my kitchen cabinets dress up the room along with the blue Ball jars. And a few chicken decorations that have recently made their way into my possession (50% off--decorating is not a high priority in our budget).
The third thing I got from my visit to the antique market was an enjoyable several hours with DD1. We decided that we should make a monthly date to visit antique markets in the area. We could probably get through six months of dates (at which time she will be moving to the west side of the state, transferring colleges) before we'd been to each of the other markets once.
The fourth thing I took home with me was the decision to take a list of items I've been wanting to acquire, and start looking for them at antique stores. For instance, a cedar chest for DD2 is going to be purchased sometime in the next year or so. DH and I had bought one for DD1 a few years ago, and been both overwhelmed at the cost, and underwhelmed at the quality of the brand new ones on the market. I think I can find a better quality, better craftsmanship cedar chest for the same price, or maybe even less, if I start searching the antique markets. After all, the cedar chest I have, that was given to me on my sixteenth birthday, had belonged to my great-grandmother before me. It is at least eighty years old at this point, and way more solid than the one we purchased in 2012.
While I was sprucing up the kitchen with DH's grandmother's old canning jars, I also remembered another item we had inherited from her: a silver and copper platter. It had sat on the top shelf of one of the cupboards since her death in 2005. Now it sits atop a cupboard where it can be seen.
Old Stuff. It shouldn't be underestimated. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's not useful.
We had gone solely because I knew that the lady I buy honey from at the local farmers' market in the summer time also has a booth at this particular antique market. And I am out of honey. No honey means no granola. So, I needed to go to the antique market!
Well, I picked a very good day to do so. I got the honey I needed, and so much more! Not that I spent very much money, just for the honey and for a lovely teacup and matching saucer that I will stash away for DD2's birthday (she collects old teacups). It was the things I didn't spend money on that I most took away from my trip.
First of all, that particular market was having a special chocolate weekend. Many of the vendors had free chocolate delights for your palate's pleasure. Oh my! Free chocolate!! MMMMM!!! So DD1 and I pretty much had chocolate for lunch, and I came away with some new dessert creations to try at home (recipes not provided, but several of them I could figure how to make just from the tasting).
The second thing I came away with was ideas of how to put to use some of the antique and otherwise slightly kitschy items I have at this little place here. Those blue canning jars inherited from DH's grandmother that I haven't dared actually can with because they are so old and valuable? No longer do they need to hide, protected, in my cellar. Nope, they have been moved to the kitchen, where I can enjoy them in an aesthetic manner.
Likewise some of my baskets that I use a lot during the gardening and farmers' market season, yet just take up space in my basement during the rest of the year. Now the ones that fit above my kitchen cabinets dress up the room along with the blue Ball jars. And a few chicken decorations that have recently made their way into my possession (50% off--decorating is not a high priority in our budget).
The third thing I got from my visit to the antique market was an enjoyable several hours with DD1. We decided that we should make a monthly date to visit antique markets in the area. We could probably get through six months of dates (at which time she will be moving to the west side of the state, transferring colleges) before we'd been to each of the other markets once.
The fourth thing I took home with me was the decision to take a list of items I've been wanting to acquire, and start looking for them at antique stores. For instance, a cedar chest for DD2 is going to be purchased sometime in the next year or so. DH and I had bought one for DD1 a few years ago, and been both overwhelmed at the cost, and underwhelmed at the quality of the brand new ones on the market. I think I can find a better quality, better craftsmanship cedar chest for the same price, or maybe even less, if I start searching the antique markets. After all, the cedar chest I have, that was given to me on my sixteenth birthday, had belonged to my great-grandmother before me. It is at least eighty years old at this point, and way more solid than the one we purchased in 2012.
While I was sprucing up the kitchen with DH's grandmother's old canning jars, I also remembered another item we had inherited from her: a silver and copper platter. It had sat on the top shelf of one of the cupboards since her death in 2005. Now it sits atop a cupboard where it can be seen.
Old Stuff. It shouldn't be underestimated. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's not useful.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
What Do We Eat?
The vast majority of this week's posts have been focused on food. Guess I'm on a roll. (*groan* a food pun, even!) So, what do we eat at this little place here if I'm not buying anything that comes in a box? (Not true, by the way, powdered milk comes in a box. Saltines come in a box. Granola bars come in a box. Pasta comes in a box--I didn't buy any pasta this month, cuz I still have a lot from my last stock up when it was 99 cents a box. . . Which reminds me of one of my frugal tenets: buy a lot when on sale; enough to get you through until the next sale.)
I gave you quite a few of the things we eat in my post Cooking Ahead, without actually naming them on a menu. Now, to the best of my recollection, here are three weeks' worth of actual dinners at this little place here. Everything is pretty much from scratch, keeping in mind I don't (yet) make hot dogs or pepperoni myself. Although now that we have a sausage stuffer, that day is definitely coming.
Sunday: cabbage & sausage casserole (homemade polish sausage)
Monday: chicken enchiladas
Tuesday: pizza calzones
Wednesday: potato soup w/fresh baked bread
Thursday: chili mac and applesauce
Friday: venison steak w/sauteed onions & mushrooms, salad, french fries
Saturday: hot dogs & brats, twice baked potatoes, dill pickles
Sunday: venison loin steaks over brown rice, sauteed onions & peppers
Monday: BBQ pork over boiled potatoes, corn
Tuesday: chicken noodle soup (used fettucini noodles, broken into thirds; sometimes I use wide egg noodles)
Wednesday: pork quesadillas, Spanish rice, refried beans, applesauce
Thursday: pasties
Friday: lasagna with garlic bread
Saturday: ham, fried onions & potatoes
Sunday: taco dip with tortilla chips (light dinner, had been to a funeral in the early afternoon and ate at the after-funeral meal) (note #2: my taco dip is taco meat, refried beans, shredded colby jack cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream)
Monday: venison stroganoff, green beans
Tuesday: potato soup (again--gotta use up those potatoes in the cellar!)
Wednesday: hamburgers on the grill (it was over 40 degrees outside, what can I say??), with sauteed onions & mushrooms, blue cheese, dill pickles, baked beans and french fries (using up them potatoes. . . )
Thursday: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, corn
Friday: venison steak, boiled potatoes, florentine blend veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots)
Saturday: chicken pot pie
What about breakfasts, you ask. Well, breakfasts are usually pretty quick things, with maybe something more time consuming on a Saturday morning. In Cooking Ahead, I talked about many different flavors of quick breads being an easy breakfast.
Typical breakfasts are any one of the following:
granola, fried eggs, scrambled eggs (with onions & cheese!), banana muffins, apple coffee cake, omelets, bagels & cream cheese, blueberry & cream cheese coffee cake, sour cream chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin muffins, strawberry muffins (in June), blueberry muffins, apple cinnamon muffins, pancakes, french toast, waffles, any flavor of quick bread. . .
Lunches are by and large leftovers from dinner. You know: chili, chicken soup, spaghetti, pizza, extra pasties or calzones (that were wrapped in foil and put in the freezer just for lunchboxes). Occasionally a sandwich like: hot ham & cheese, pb & blueberry j (or cherry, or strawberry, or peach, or pear or blackberry), or a tuna melt. From time to time DH likes to just have pickled veggies (hot peppers, usually), summer sausage, cheese and crackers packed in his lunchbox.
Can't forget desserts. We don't have dessert every night, usually just two or three per week. In the past few weeks we've had: lemon squares, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, ice cream w/caramel sauce, chocolate pudding, apple pie, no bake cookies, kiwi squares, walnut brownies, homemade chocolate heart candies (Valentine's Day), chocolate chip cookies.
Snacks are usually fruit, veggies like carrots and celery, nuts, or cheese and crackers.
As far as meat goes, the majority of our meat is venison, followed by chicken, then pork, then turkey, then beef. Usually home raised, very rarely from the store.
There you have it. What we eat at this little place here.
I gave you quite a few of the things we eat in my post Cooking Ahead, without actually naming them on a menu. Now, to the best of my recollection, here are three weeks' worth of actual dinners at this little place here. Everything is pretty much from scratch, keeping in mind I don't (yet) make hot dogs or pepperoni myself. Although now that we have a sausage stuffer, that day is definitely coming.
Sunday: cabbage & sausage casserole (homemade polish sausage)
Monday: chicken enchiladas
Tuesday: pizza calzones
Wednesday: potato soup w/fresh baked bread
Thursday: chili mac and applesauce
Friday: venison steak w/sauteed onions & mushrooms, salad, french fries
Saturday: hot dogs & brats, twice baked potatoes, dill pickles
Sunday: venison loin steaks over brown rice, sauteed onions & peppers
Monday: BBQ pork over boiled potatoes, corn
Tuesday: chicken noodle soup (used fettucini noodles, broken into thirds; sometimes I use wide egg noodles)
Wednesday: pork quesadillas, Spanish rice, refried beans, applesauce
Thursday: pasties
Friday: lasagna with garlic bread
Saturday: ham, fried onions & potatoes
Sunday: taco dip with tortilla chips (light dinner, had been to a funeral in the early afternoon and ate at the after-funeral meal) (note #2: my taco dip is taco meat, refried beans, shredded colby jack cheese, salsa, lettuce and sour cream)
Monday: venison stroganoff, green beans
Tuesday: potato soup (again--gotta use up those potatoes in the cellar!)
Wednesday: hamburgers on the grill (it was over 40 degrees outside, what can I say??), with sauteed onions & mushrooms, blue cheese, dill pickles, baked beans and french fries (using up them potatoes. . . )
Thursday: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, corn
Friday: venison steak, boiled potatoes, florentine blend veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, carrots)
Saturday: chicken pot pie
What about breakfasts, you ask. Well, breakfasts are usually pretty quick things, with maybe something more time consuming on a Saturday morning. In Cooking Ahead, I talked about many different flavors of quick breads being an easy breakfast.
Typical breakfasts are any one of the following:
granola, fried eggs, scrambled eggs (with onions & cheese!), banana muffins, apple coffee cake, omelets, bagels & cream cheese, blueberry & cream cheese coffee cake, sour cream chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin muffins, strawberry muffins (in June), blueberry muffins, apple cinnamon muffins, pancakes, french toast, waffles, any flavor of quick bread. . .
Lunches are by and large leftovers from dinner. You know: chili, chicken soup, spaghetti, pizza, extra pasties or calzones (that were wrapped in foil and put in the freezer just for lunchboxes). Occasionally a sandwich like: hot ham & cheese, pb & blueberry j (or cherry, or strawberry, or peach, or pear or blackberry), or a tuna melt. From time to time DH likes to just have pickled veggies (hot peppers, usually), summer sausage, cheese and crackers packed in his lunchbox.
Can't forget desserts. We don't have dessert every night, usually just two or three per week. In the past few weeks we've had: lemon squares, oatmeal butterscotch cookies, ice cream w/caramel sauce, chocolate pudding, apple pie, no bake cookies, kiwi squares, walnut brownies, homemade chocolate heart candies (Valentine's Day), chocolate chip cookies.
Snacks are usually fruit, veggies like carrots and celery, nuts, or cheese and crackers.
As far as meat goes, the majority of our meat is venison, followed by chicken, then pork, then turkey, then beef. Usually home raised, very rarely from the store.
There you have it. What we eat at this little place here.
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