on the fence

 

This summer has been busy.  We haven't gone anywhere but thankfully the kids and grands have all been here at one time or another.

My little garden has been  invaded by the chipmunks and squirrels.  The little buggers have been snatching green cherry tomatoes, taking one bite of them and leaving them behind.  Grrrrrr.

The flowers have been gorgeous tho'.  The Resident Fisherman works hard, feeding, weeding and pruning.  So lovely.

Worse than the chipmunks and squirrels tho, are the large 'rodents'.  The deer are thick as thieves here and do a lot of damage.  So, we hired some friends to install a fence in our backyard.

It turned out great!  

We are looking forward to filling it up with flowers and food.  And places to sit so we can stop and smell the roses.

Of course, the fence won't keep out this fella: 

He stopped by for a visit about 6 weeks ago, but we didn't roll out the welcome mat.  He has apparently moved on to greener pastures/dumpsters.

While the Resident Fisherman is out working in the flowers, I am often in working in the kitchen.  I know I am not alone in feeling an urgency to put food up for the winter.  Yes, I can buy it from the grocery store.  However, I am only going to the grocery store once a month.  The rest of the time I am shopping at the Farmer's Market.  

I am filling our freezer,dehydrator and canned goods shelves with things I buy there:

squash, onions, peppers, peas, beans, celery, and cucumbers. Soon I will be getting a few boxes of tomatoes to can.

I am so thankful to see the freezer full. The canned goods shelves are crowded.  Yes, canning is work, but I love knowing where my food comes from.  I know the names of the farmers and chat with them at the market about how things are going on their farm.

I'm thankful to live in a place where, although the winters are long and cold, things grow well here.

I also buy food from our local farm share.  Tonight's dinner will be Swedish meatballs with ground beef and pork from about 50 miles away. The potatoes for mashed potatoes and the summer squash, sauteed with garlic, were grown even closer than that.

What's for supper at your house tonight?

meal plan

Hydrangea (pre-deer attack)

The resident fisherman was out doing what he does yesterday (fishing) and I had a rare fit of organization come over me.

After reading the post and  comments from Annabel's inspiring and encouraging blog, I donned my winter gloves and headed to the basement to inventory the freezer.

I set up a few card tables and pulled everything out.   I put all the things in categories: 

Meats

Grains

Fruits

Vegetables

Main Course

Dairy

Bakery

Other

Then within each category, I listed what we had:

Turkey Breast

Ground turkey

Brats

Chicken Breast

Sausage links  

(Apparently we are in crisis mode now as there was NO BEEF ANYWHERE TO BE FOUND IN THE FREEZER.  No worries,  since this is Labor Day weekend, there will surely be sales on Beef - ground and otherwise.)

Then as I put each item back, I tallied.

I am too lazy to take a picture of it, but it looked roughly like this:

MEAT

Turkey breast     O

Ground Turkey    OOO

Brats OOOOO

Chicken breast O

Sausage links )

FRUIT

Mixed O

Cranberries OOOO

Strawberries OO

Rhubarb OO

And so on...... 

Obviously, we are light on beef.  The ads come out tomorrow and I will rectify the situation immediately.

Buoyed by the sight of a nice, neat freezer, I came upstairs and tackled the fridge freezer.  Same system.  Different piece of paper.

Earlier this year I had already done the pantry, the lazy susan and the food stores we keep in the basement.  I would say 95% of our groceries were bought on sale.

I looked over my inventory sheets and roughly calculated the servings in each package of meat and some of the main dish type things like some homemade chili I have packaged up and frozen.

I came up with (roughly) 63 servings.  Just from our 2 freezers.  That would feed the resident fisherman and I for a while.  I did not count the other areas of food storage we have or the fridge.  I have 16 cans of canned soup alone  that would provide us with another 32 servings (2 per can).

Why am I mentioning this?   As of this writing, Houston is being inundated by Hurricane Harvey.  People are being flooded out of their homes.  Other people, sheltering in place, will be unable to find an open grocery store or restaurant for a little while yet.

Having a decent stockpile of food, means that (unless you are flooded out of course) you can shelter in place and feed yourself.  If we lost power, I could pressure can the meat and veggies and water bath can the fruits (gas stove).

If we had to evacuate our house (we are much more at risk for a forest fire than a flood here), I would grab a change or two of clothing, family documents and pictures, blankets, camping stuff and fill the rest of the car with food.

Hopefully, we will never have to do that.  But we are ready for other kinds of storms.  We have a rather large expense coming up in October.  Because of our deep pantry, we can divert money we would otherwise use for groceries in the next two months for that bill (which if paid in advance saves us 5%).

So, I save 25-50% on my grocery bills (I calculate my savings after every major shopping trip).  I 'snowball' that money into paying other bills advance when it is to my advantage to do so.

What do you do?  Do you have a deep enough pantry to get you through a rough patch?  A bout of flu?  An unexpected bill or job loss?  Or unexpected company?

I would love to hear your plans!

Oh, the circles after each item in each category?  When I use up, say, a bag of cranberries, I color in one circle to denote that it is gone.  If I buy more cranberries, I simply make another circle for each bag.  Every once or twice a year, I re-inventory.  You see, according to my previous inventory, we still had 4 pounds of ground beef in the downstairs freezer.  Someone forgot to color in his circles.  :)

The system works best if it is used properly.

I love it when a plan comes together!

 

                            

This is one of those rare days when I don't *have* to be somewhere.

The winds are blustery, the temperature 24, the roads icy.

Staying home on a day like today is a luxury I do not take for granted.  But it would be all too easy to sit and read and not get anything accomplished.

So, I made an impossibly long to do list to keep me motivated and moving.

Hope you have a productive day as well.  Let's go!

Tuesday tour - dining room

Okay, you asked for it. Well, Becky did. A house tour.

I feel a little funny about this, but also know that I enjoy seeing other folks' homes and perhaps one or two of my two or three readers would enjoy seeing our home.

For the record, since I made it clear that you do not want to take fashion advice from me (and got not argument), I also want to make it clear that you do not want to take decorating advice from me.

Not a decorator. Which you will recognize immediately when I show you around the house.


I love old things, surround me with old family pieces with stories and history and I'm a happy girl. No shiny and new for me.

However, the biggest compliment a friend ever paid me on our home? It is so peaceful here they said.

That warmed my heart.

So, peace to all who enter here:

For most of our married life this glass case cabinet resided in my in-law's basement. When Pat and his brother were growing up, this was their natural history museum, housing bits of nature the boys would find and bring home.

It currently holds other treasures. The plant on top was given to me by my church family when I had a lumpectomy. It was benign and this plant testifies to God's goodness and graciousness to me as well as the love of a wonderful church.

The two chubby people to the right of the plant are tea light holders brought back from Peru by Daniel when he was on a mission trip there. (He may have said that they two chubby people reminded him of us, we most likely had an appropriate retort.)




This china dates back to the 1880's. We found it after my mother-in-law's death all wrapped up and safely stored in a trunk. I had not seen it before and thought it beautiful and worthy of display. These are some pieces that belonged to my Grandma. Actually, only the cookie jar did, I found the little teapots at an antique store and have been on the lookout for 'rooster and roses' dishes ever since. Fond memories of eating at Grandma's every summer. Fresh tomatoes, new potatoes, crisp cucumbers, and most especially corn on the cob, picked from the field, husked and de-silked on the front porch, popped in the pot of boiling water and enjoyed immensely at the table.
Some beautiful pottery made by my very talented brother-in-law.
This 'wardrobe' (if you are very imaginative you can step into Narnia through this door...) was purchased with birthday money at a friend's antique and quilt shop. Pat was guiding during this time, so my friend Mary and I hauled it up our deck stairs and placed it in the living room.

It holds my wedding china and miscellaneous other serving dishes.

On top of the wardrobe is Pat's (old- won't say how old~wink~) rocking horse. Sock monkeys and a stuffed clown are taking a little ride. The mailbox and the stacking rings were also Pat's; the Norwegian horses are newer (but almost 30 years old now...). And in this corner, three picnic baskets, two from garage sales, one from my mother-in-law's complete with matching plastic (early plastic) plates and cups. The quilts? I made the cat one for my mother-in-law. The top quilt was made by Leah S. Leah was born in 1891 and made this quilt when she was 10 or 12. She gave it to my mother-in-law in 1979.

So, there you have my dining room. Full of family treasures. Nothing that would be featured in Country Living or House Beautiful.

But it is ours, full of family history, collected and assembled over time. It makes me smile.

bin busy

seen at a cute little shop in Pigeon Forge last fall

I spent a little time over the weekend downsizing some of our plastic bins. I'm happy to announce that I emptied 4 bins (3 medium size and one little) and then put the contents of one cardboard box into one of the empty bins.

The next two weeks, however, leave no time for bin reorganization.

Company is coming!

It starts tomorrow beginning with my aunt and uncle.

They leave on Thursday - later that day our son Jon flies in from Iowa.

Friday morning we take him to Nashville for a Youth Work's Conference (too short a visit-but we are grateful for what we get!).

Friday evening our son Nathan arrives.

I hope he can stay until Monday.

Monday evening two aunts and a cousin come to town.

Wednesday evening my brother and my two nephews and niece arrive.

Two more cousins arrive on Thursday (I think?) and we will serve Thanksgiving dinner down at Mom and Dad's. I'm chief cook (love that!).

Today, the baking begins. On my agenda (I always set lofty, unattainable goals):
rhubarb muffins done
chocolate chip cookies done
dinner rolls done
bread - for slicing for sandwiches and for cubing and drying for stuffing done
roast a chicken done
roast the pumpkins that have been decorating the front porch for the past 6 weeks (done - 4 C. in freezer - enough for two pies)
roast the pumpkin seeds done
make broth, soup and gravy to freeze cooking in crock pot while I am off to choir practice
cherry cheesecake oops - missing an ingredient - on the to do list for tomorrow!

I need to freshen up the guest room (done) too, because COMPANY"S COMIN'!

Blogging may be sporadic over the next two weeks.

a few links 4 u

Here are a few ideas to keep you busy over the weekend:

These handmade wreaths look simple, yet elegant.

I think these ornaments are so adorable. The patterns are now available as a downloadable PDF .

I read this quote the other day and it got me thinking. 'Who decided it made sense to store unused stuff in plastic bins?'

As you may know, I have been continually trying to downsize my stuff for quite a while. I do not want to be a minimalist per se. I am grateful to have enough, but embarrassed to have too much. I counted our plastic bins. It makes me cringe to say that we have 24. 27 if you count Christmas stuff. Add to that 10 cardboard boxes in closets and under beds.

To be fair, not all of these bins are big - several of them are shoe box size, but in the interests of full disclosure, I counted them. I have 4 boxes just for craft type stuff. Several boxes hold family history items. Some boxes hold just a few things. I think with a little bit of work, I could reduce my 4 craft boxes to 3. And we could probably combine a few other boxes into one. Then use the empty plastic box to store something from a cardboard box. AND get RID of the empty cardboard box.

While Pat is watching football this weekend, I'll be re-organizing some of the bins.

We'll be celebrating our 37th (!!!!) wedding anniversary in 10 days. If we have 27 plastic bins and let's say 10 cardboard boxes - that is just one per year. Not too bad...but I don't want to continue to add a bin a year. Maybe from here on out we can get rid of a bin a year. By our 74th anniversary - no bins! :)

We'll see how low I can go! Check back on Monday. And I'm curious - how many plastic bins do you have?

jump for joy

At Christmas time, when the boys were little, we would play a variety of Christmas (LP) albums on a record player. Among the favorites were Sandy Patti's Come Let Us Worship the King and Evie Tournquist's Come on Ring Those Bells.

We would sing these and dance around the room. With reckless abandon. We don't do that much anymore. :)

With our little preschool choir, we are singing Come on Ring Those Bells. And guess what? They like to dance around the room as they sing it. With reckless abandon.

Go ahead do it. Put on some music and dance around the room with reckless abandon.

It will feel great!

give me a break

As mentioned yesterday, we had a string of things break down in a short period of time. It was almost comical.

But I learned a few things.

• It is satisfying to knead bread dough by hand -dare I say more satisfying than dumping a bunch of ingredients in the bread pan and pushing a few buttons. The bread maker has been a good servant for almost 20 years (!) but it will not be replaced. Do not buy me a new bread maker.
  
• After being without a working fridge for 10 days...and having the repairman here three times, I have decided that our next fridge will be an icebox. (I realize I may get a little resistance on this ~smile~). Our frozen stuff was tucked away in Mom and Dad's freezer (thank you!!!) and we had two coolers in the kitchen. This was very workable - hardly inconvenient at all (good thing I like to camp, huh?). There will be no fancy schmancy counter-depth fridges in my future. I think an old oak ice box would fit very nicely in the space allotted for the big side by side unreliable (and 'spensive!) monstrosity that sits there now. With a basket or bowl of produce attractively displayed on top. Nice, don't you think? Appeals to my inner Ma Ingalls.
• The car. We have a 2 grocery stores and a produce stand within about three miles of us. One way. We could conceivably walk to get our groceries. Problem is there's no shoulder on these back roads and some c-r-a-z-y drivers (in TN you do not need to have Driver's Ed. to get a license. You can jump in the ditch when cars come careening around the curves, but that is where the dead possums are.) Church would be a little more problematic - 5 miles one way. Good thing I don't wear heels! :)

While we will do without a bread maker, we probably won't get rid of the fridge or the car. Okay, we certainly won't get rid of the fridge or the car. But it is nice to know that when modern conveniences fail, there is still the old-fashioned way of doing things.

I take great comfort in the fact, however, that tho' things break down (regularly!), Jesus never fails.
~~~~~~~
What things have broken down for you recently? And what have you decided you could live without?

min.

I received an email from a friend and among other things, she informed me that a mutual friend had recently begun blogging.

So, I read the dozen or so posts she had on her blog. One thing lead to another and I found myself checking out one of her links.

A post about a guy who owns 75 things. That is it. He can pack to move anywhere in the world in about 15 minutes.

Now to be fair, he is not including books, nor furniture shared with his roommate.

So, of course, this set me to thinking.

Could I live with only 75 things (think so)?

Do I want to? Not really, I guess, but the idea of such simplicity really appeals to me. When we moved we downsized. When we arrived here we downsized even more. Having less stuff is freeing.

Of course we could do even more. And I want to. But we are a l-o-n-g way from 75. I think we have 75 pens and pencils alone!

I know it took us over a month to disperse all of my mother-in-law's belongings after she died. I don't want the kids to have to do that with our stuff.

Though, I'll never be a minimalist, I'd really like to have less stuff.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21

I'm motivated to keep working on downsizing.

Anybody need some pens or pencils?

that's garbage

How can you not love a hyacinth? Especially one this shade of purple!

So far, my facebook friend has not responded to my comment on his status yesterday. Also, no comments here but I got one supportive email and one shout out on facebook from momawake who couldn't get my comments to work. Thanks!



I heard this disturbing statistic on the radio yesterday:
"According to the United Nations Environment Program, Americans spend more for trash bags than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend for everything!".

Wow! Can that be possible? Shame on us.

We generate about one bag of garbage every 3-4 weeks. I wonder if we can do better than that? We recycle glass, tin, plastic, paper, and cardboard. We haven't started composting yet because of the skunks....one day I hope to have a compost tumbler, but they are rather pricey. (Maybe someone who is about to retire could make one for us.) I know, I'm so demanding.

Today is 'take all the recyclables and garbage to the dump day'. Mom is going to accompany me. A girls day out. Woohoo! As I left Mom and Dad's this morning, Mom (who always looks cute in anything she wears) asked what she should wear for our special time out on the town.

I told her casual would be just fine. I don't think the County inmates who run the dump will mind if we don't get too gussied up.

Hope you are having as much fun as we are today - I've gotta go coordinate my work gloves with my sweat pants!

snow!

snowses on the roses

The weatherman was predicting accumulations in the mountains, but not here in the valley.

So, this was a nice surprise this morning when I ventured out to walk. Two hours later it is still snowing.

We plan to put up our Christmas decorations today, so this is perfect timing.

A steamy mug of hot chocolate, Christmas music playing in the background, unpacking boxes filled with memories, snow outside. A perfect Saturday!

Merry Christmas!

neat as a pin or not?

We walk around the block most evenings, often stopping in at Mom and Dad's to porch sit for a spell.

Thursday night after leaving Mom and Dad's we continued on our way and met up with another couple - they live two doors down from us. We talked and walked. When we got to their house, we talked some more and as the guys discussed cars and garages, she invited me into their home.

Simply beautiful. Not a piece of paper or a book or a magazine on any flat surface. No shoes by the door, no clutter anywhere. It looked like a model home.

That is so not me. I greatly admire people who can keep their homes like that, but I don't manage to emulate them.

Here is what I came home to:
his and her pairs of shoes by the door
four ears of corn and a couple of bowls of tomatoes from the garden on the kitchen counter as well as a loaf of zucchini bread
a bucket of apples from the neighbor on the kitchen floor
strips of fabric on the guest bed - I'm making a lap quilt for a friend who was recently diagnosed with cancer and has just begun chemo
the ironing board set up next to the sewing machine so I can press as I sew
the days mail on the kitchen table awaiting filing or pitching
music books open on the clavinova..
and so on.

But I always make our bed! Our home is clean, just not necessarily neat.

My neighbor works full time and they go out to eat several times a week.

Not so here. Both of us here for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My home is my work place. Sewing, crafting, cooking, baking, preserving and making music.

It really isn't super messy, just busy.

I find it to be a comfortable jumble of things I enjoy. Pat seems to agree (aren't I lucky?).

And I hope that if you stopped by, you would feel a warm welcome, no matter how many projects I have going.

How 'bout you? Are you a neat as a pin homemaker or do you have a lot of things going on at once?

optimistic

It is a beautiful day here in southeast Tennessee. The first thing I do when I get home from my walk these days, is throw open the windows and let the fresh air and the bird songs in (and the pollen and the dust and the noise of the cement truck down the road).

The day is full of possibilities and I have an impressive (mental) list of things I plan to accomplish today. Course I won't get half of them done, but not for lack of trying (or getting completely sidetracked by something else).

One of the things on the list today is working at the food pantry. We are expecting a shipment of 1600 pounds of canned goods from Second Harvest and somebody needs to put them away. I know we will be working with some nice people and it is always fun to get to know folks a little better.

Speaking of fun, a childhood memory just popped into my little brain. We lived in Omaha, on Franklin Street. The tradition, as long as we lived in that house, was to unload the grocery bags at the doorway to the kitchen and roll or slide the canned goods along the floor to a sibling who stood (or sat) at the ready to put them in the cupboard. Cheap entertainment. Of course, I am sure we never tried to hit our sibling with a canned good. But, accidents do happen. Teehee.

Whatever your work is today, try to make it fun. It will go much faster that way!

Off to see what 1600 pounds of canned goods looks like....

weekend accountability

blurry sunrise

really should put my glasses on when I'm snapping pics

More often than not, I am guilty of making many more plans for a weekend than I can accomplish. I have grandiose ideas in my head of all the things I can get done - gardening, sewing, cooking, writing, knitting, cleaning, exercising. I guess I think of myself 'more highly than I ought'.

So this early Saturday morning, I am trying to be realistic. But I also feel that if I put my 'to-do' list out on this blog post I will feel accountable to get them 'to-done'.

So here goes. We are attending a food pantry potluck tomorrow after church. I was told to bring a dessert, so I will bake a dessert sometime today (I think 'cookie dough brownies if I can find the recipe).

Daniel asked me to knit a scarf for him. I am 2/3 done. If I want to get it to him before spring, I need to really focus on completing it. I think I can get it done by Sunday evening?????

I need to read through the first 8 chapters of Nehemiah for Sunday School tomorrow.

We need to put some stuff in the attic today. That won't take long, but it is so easy to put off....

There are three bills to pay.

I have four articles of clothing I want to 'refashion'. I'm not even gonna touch these until I get the scarf done. But should I get the scarf done....there are two blouses to take in (hooray!) and two skirts I want to shorten from ankle length to just below the knee length. But I must get that scarf done first (did I mention that?).

Anyway, enough about me. What are you planning to accomplish this weekend?

what is going on

As is my habit, I stopped by Mom and Dad's this morning as I was finishing up my walk. When it was time for me to go home, I mentioned that I needed to get home to do some watering and to blog.

Mom said, "Yes, blog please, so we know what is going on."

Actually, that is why I blog. So I know what is going on. It has been a great way to help me clear my thoughts (always a challenge) and to focus on what is important or fun or beautiful.

I think I would blog even if no one was reading. I enjoy blogging that much. But it really, really helps knowing that people are reading. Please don't stop.

Mom and Dad and KimmeeSue (the wonderdog) and I went to get rocks yesterday. We had a great time. Mom and Dad are adventerous and love to take different routes to places and do some exploring along the way. The scenery down here is beautiful. Come see for yourselves. And if you travel with Mom and Dad you will see a lot.

Anyway, lo and behold, we had a trailer full of rocks. The next thing I knew we were in Knoxville eating lunch at the Olive Garden. This is the kind of thing that happens when you run an errand with my parents.

I love it.

Today, as far as I know, I will be home attending to things here. My sister Lori and nephew Richard arrive tomorrow for the week and I want to get some baking done. I also need to put my dining room back together again.
I have a feeling I already blogged about this. If I did, you can go read someone else's blog. Here is our living room. The place above the mantel is designed for a television. Cable hook-up and electrical outlet and everything behind the picture. But since we don't want a TV THAT DOMINATES THE ROOM (at least not yet), we have a tiny screen tv (free from Mom and Dad, the intrepid wanderers) with a $.55 rabbit ears from the thrift store). Yes, I'm sure I blogged about this. Anywho, this works for us. For now. And that couch? So comfortable. Don't take my word for it, come down and sit with us for a spell.

The bookcase on the left is an old piece that is from Pat's side of the family. The pictures of top of it are our boys' senior photos.

So, I think that is what is going on here. I have some more longish posts in my head, but since Pat needs his computer so he can WORK, I'd better run along.

Have a great day everyone!

cute little gerbera daisy on the back step

where does the time go...

Here is a peek into our dining room. I really should have turned the lights on in there before I snapped this shot. It is a bright and cheery room It looks nothing like this right now, because yesterday I dragged 4 rubbermaid type totes in here to sort and search. They are still there, in various stages of torn apart-ness, because I found the scalloped scissors I was looking for and proceeded to make some handmade cards.

I plan to label the contents of the boxes and then put them away, unless I decide to sew a couple of shopping totes first.

I'm already behind schedule, as I was on the last leg of my walk this morning I noticed a white truck in front of our house. At 7 AM. I hurried over here and discovered that it was the gas man. I would imagine if I were a gas man I wouldn't really like to be called that.

Anyway, he was here to mark the gas line so that when we are planting we don't accidentally hit it. Then I went over to Mom and Dad's to see them and I found out that they are going to L.C. today to get rocks. I want to go to L.C. to get rocks. Not only that, but there is a potluck at the firehouse tonight. We might not go, but the one I went to last year was really cool. GREAT FOOD. And a short meeting followed by an hour of music by a local bluegrass band.

Then I got home and cut Pat's hair. Now I am blogging and in a few minutes the landscape guys will be here. And I haven't even showered yet.

See how a day gets away from me? First I needed to find a pair of scissors....

These quilts are pretty old and in pretty bad shape. But you can't tell if you fold the bad parts in and roll them up just right and put them in an old basket.

a day in the life of...

view from our front yard - looking toward the northwest

Every once in a while I come across a blog that describes, in depth, the details of their activities that day. Although I often find these interesting - I won't do that to you , because the major activity today will be: going through boxes - again.

I will tell you this. It is going to be in the 90's this week. Yesterday, today and the rest of the week. I will not complain about the heat. I will not complain about the heat. I will not complain about the heat. After the very cold, long Wisconsin winter just past, I will not complain about the heat.

So, I will sort through craft and sewing boxes (I can't find my scalloped edged scissors which necessitates this search and sort) in air-conditioned comfort (wearing denim capris, a brown tee shirt and my brown Crocs - LOVE MY CROCS - they are as ugly as all get-out but oh so comfortable...by the way I am telling you what I am wearing because that seems to be something one does in a blog of a day in the life of.... there - run on enough for ya?).

I have also been searching through cookbooks for summertime recipes. It is going to be hot this week (not that I'm complaining mind you) and I'd like to have some cool refreshing salads on hand.

I found this recipe for macaroni salad (which of course I will tweak and adjust because I can't leave well enough alone) in Hearth and Home by Karey Swan:

3/4 C. mayo

2 T. cider vinegar

1 t. salt

1 t. sugar

1 tsp. powdered mustard seed (which I assume is ground mustard and if it is not you will be the first to know and I think I will start off with 1/2 t,)

dash pepper

4 hard-cooked eggs, cooled, peeled and chopped (don't you love that they need to tell us to peel the eggs)

4 C. cooled, cooked and drained elbow macaroni (12 oz. uncooked)

1/2 C. chopped green onions

1/2 C. sliced radishes

3/4 C. diced Colby cheese ( I have not been able to find Colby cheese down here. What kind of a state doesn't have Colby cheese??)

2. T. chopped parsley

Combine first six ingredients and mix well. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

So, there you have it. I'll let you know if it is good. I'm confident it will be, because I have yet to be disappointed in a recipe from this book.

So....what is going on in your world today? I'd love to know!

the days are just packed

(with apologies to Calvin and Hobbes)

Nights seem to be shorter these days. Periods of wakefulness are full of planning: efficient ways to pack boxes, stuff to get rid of, places to go, people to see, appointments to make, things to do.

Yesterday I tackled our taxes and got all the information assembled for our tax preparer. Last night while Pat was at basketball, I took all the house information he had pulled from the files, (woodstove booklet, microwave, oven, dishwasher, furnace, etc...as well as area points of interest) and filed these in an accordian file for D. and L.

I cleaned out the rest of our files and pitched a bunch of paper. We had a mover give us an estimate last week. He gave me a new perspective on what we have accumulated. Moving our stuff is costing $.50 a pound. Do I want to save old magazine articles containing decorating or gardening ideas for something I might be able to maybe do some day? The answer is no. He encouraged us to donate any canned goods we have left to the food pantry (great idea!). He asked if that one pound can of tomatoes (of course today's one pound can of tomatoes weighs 14 and 1/2 ounces - a pet peeve of mine) that I got for $.33 was worth paying $.50 to move. The answer is no.

With two groups of guys arriving in the next month - Daniel and some college friends during winter break and Nate and several snow boarding buddies in a few weeks- I don't think leftover groceries will be a problem. But still, these are good things to keep in mind.

When are we moving? Somewhere between the beginning of April and the middle of May. In the meantime we need to:

• get our dental work done
• get some maintenance work done on the car
• go to Minneapolis ( I'll be there Thursday through Saturday of this week)
• go to Tennessee and BUY A HOUSE
• PACK
• go to my last choir practice and turn in music
• say good by to folks at the food pantry
• plan the Awana awards dinner
• plan menus around the contents of my kitchen shelves for both Daniel's and Nathan's groups
• HAVE A GRANDBABY, well Kristi is taking care of the 'having the baby' part, my job will be to get to Iowa as soon as I can after the first contraction

I'm sure there is other stuff I'm forgetting. Don't worry, it will come to me in the middle of the night one of these nights. For example, I need to crown a new 'Queen of Nesbit' (or King) - anyone interested in the job?

I would love to get out for a cup of tea with all of my local friends, but I don't think that will be feasible given our schedule.

How about this? Stop by. I've got plenty of tea here (help me drink it all before we move). You may want to call first to make sure I'm not in TN, or MN or IA or the dentist's chair. I'd love to sit and chat with each of you.

Especially if you bring boxes and bubble wrap and know how to use them. We've got to get packin'!

two of our visitors

Lucy and Ricki
mother and daughter

I have been wanting to get another dog for a long time.

Now, I want two.

didn't see that coming

basket cases

Reminder to self:
Don't schedule a dentist appointment on Valentine's Day. Kinda wrecks the day. We love our dentist, we really do - he is a great guy and a good friend. However, he did not give me very good news yesterday. Remember that $240 Pat and I saved yesterday by not following society's norms in celebrating Valentine's Day? Well, that will be gone soon and then some.

Major dental work on the horizon for me. Yippee.

Oh well. It could be worse.
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Two of my Sunday school kids - two boys (!) asked me how the food pantry dinner went. These are fourth grade boys. I was so touched. I had asked the kids to be praying for the people who attend these dinners. Knowing these two boys, I'm sure they were.
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We have company coming this weekend. A college buddy of Pat's and his wife. And their two dogs. I need to do a little more sprucing up around here. Last weekend, I thought the caulking in the bathroom they will be using was looking a little shabby, so I tore it out and re-caulked. I want to re-organize the closet in the room they are staying in and then I need to do the weekly dusting, vacuuming drill. Everything else looks pretty good.

I want to do some baking, too. Cherry pie anyone? Cinnamon rolls?

I may not have time to blog tomorrow, so have a great weekend everyone!