World Market Adventure

We just got back from a trip to World Market where they had to run us out of there as we got there too late and it was nearly closing time. I just had to get out there as they were doing a buy 1 get 1 free on 12 oz. bags of coffee PLUS it's double coffee points day. We buy whole bean coffee as it taste so much better than all ready ground or instant coffee; we just grind what we will use each morning. I put the bags of beans in the freezer until we need to open a new bag; it keeps them fresher. We chose a variety of flavors - all of these are good.

We also picked up a couple bottles of wine. Scott got a bottle of Pinot Grigio and I picked up the bottle of Wise & Heimer... for the blue bottle! I so want a blue bottle tree in my garden; I'm thinking 8 to 12 blue bottles would make for an awesome display. Just got to keep my eyes open for blue bottles - hopefully the wine will taste good too and that will be a bonus.

In today's mail I received the 3 books that I had ordered from Amazon last week. I'm very interested in Permaculture and growing more of our own food anywhere that we live. And the book in the center just flat out intrigued me and it was less than $5. Could you live in just 140 square feet? 


Don't forget to jump back to yesterday for your chance to win the earrings that I made... Earring Give-a-way

Blog Post #1500 Give-a-way

OK! Here is what I came up with for my little give-a-way. To be eligible to win this handcrafted pair all you have to do is leave me a comment and live in the USA. My income is such that I can not afford to ship overseas. SORRY!

I made these earrings this afternoon; utilizing what I had on hand in my beading "stash".  That's right my "stash" doesn't stop at fabrics. Good Luck - I will draw a winner on April Fools Day.

Recipe and the next post will be a GIVE-A-WAY!

So my next post will be my 1500th since I started this blog and I've decided to have a little give-a-way. So watch for it.... it will be for USA mailing addresses only as overseas mailing is too expensive for me right now. Sorry to those in other countries - wish I could but just can't right now.

Here is a recipe I promised to post a little while ago for CHOW- CHOW using green tomatoes. It is SO GOOD!

This recipe is from the KERR Home Canning and Freezing Book 1982

CHOW-CHOW

1 peck (12 1/2 pounds) green tomatoes

8 large onions

10 green bell peppers

3 tablespoons salt

6 hot peppers (chopped)

1 quart vinegar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3 tablespoons dry mustard

Few Bay Leaves

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup horseradish (optional - but I wouldn't leave it out)

CHOP tomatoes, onions and peppers together and cover with salt; let stand overnight. Drain, add the hot peppers, vinegar, spices (TIED IN CHEESE CLOTH BAG) and sugar; allow to boil slowly until tender (about 15 minutes). Add horseradish. Pack into sterilized Kerr jars to within 1/2-inch of top. Put on cap, screw band firmly tight. Process in Boiling Water Bath 5 minutes.

Kerr is a named brand for anyone that does not know. I put mine up in small jelly sized jars; I WON'T do that again - use pint sized jars. This Chow-Chow is so good on beans, cabbage and even hot dogs. If I have enough to make this up this year I plan to make a minimum of 2 batches. Our entire family loved this stuff and it made awesome Christmas gifts that year.

Rainy Weather

It's been dreary and rainy since we came home from the radio meet on  Saturday. Yesterday I worked 6 hours at the store; setting a new sale and stocking stickers and scrapbook paper. I came home and made Lemon Pepper Chicken; baked beans and fried okra. That was about all - nothing special.

Last night I pulled fabric from my stash to pull together my border on a Round Robin thats waiting for my addition so that it can be shipped home to it's owner. It is a Fall themed quilts so I pulled mostly oranges and browns all my yellows were just too bright for this quilt. I always pull fabrics and then "sleep on it"; the next day I go back in and switch things around a little and perhaps add a bit more. I'm thinking about using one of the greens as a narrow border and then do a piano keys border after that... still "thinking".

Today I ran a few errands and stopped at the library and checked out a few more books. Trying to borrow books more often from the library and avoid spending money when ever possible. One book is titled "Not Buying it - My year without shopping", by: Judith Levine. I'm looking forward to reading this one first. 

Scott has yet to post about the AWA Meet so I guess I'll show a few more radios as they truly are beautiful - NO PLASTIC! 

Old Friends and Memories

About 1979 - Port Siad Egypt - Scott second from left with Eagles t-shirt with some of his Shipmates.

Our wedding day 1985

Greg with his younger cousins 1997

Just a few "old" pictures since I haven't really done much today except work and cook dinner. I made the vests on the boys and all the girls outfits in the bottom photo. We need to get all the children together for another "Grandkids" photo for my parents. Of course now there are four more to add to the picture and the babies in this picture are all teenagers now.

AWA Meet

We only sold a few things but all in all we had a wonderful time and so enjoyed the time together in Charlotte, North Carolina at the Antique Wireless Association Meet.

All anxious to get in the gate and set up....

AND THEY'RE OFF!

This is the lot from the Motel's back door.

It's a ship... no it's a clock... wait... it's a radio

Our friend Gerald with his "red wagon"

OH LOOK! James Brown!

Interesting!

I'm sure Scott will post more on his blog as I know he went "inside" and took photos of the "SHOW PIECES". Some real beauties to be sure all restored and looking brand new. We talked about all the families that sat in front of these old radios and listened to the WWII News and Reports. AMAZING! (Not James Brown to be sure but many of the others).

On My Mind - Pollen Pollen it's EVERYWHERE!

In Amelia's (dog) Water bowl.....

In puddles EVERYWHERE....

What we need is a full day of steady rain to clear all this from the air. I know it won't last long and it will take no time for the air to fill again but one or two days of pollen free air would be so WONDERFUL!

And on a side note... we went to Tractor Supply Company today to get Scott a new straw hat as he left his at a friends over a year ago and we haven't been back up that way to get it back. He needed one for this weekend as we will be attending the Antique Wireless Association Meet and he would get roasted walking around the parking lot looking at old radios. So here he is in his spiffy new straw hat....

The brim is WONDERFULLY wide to protect his head and face from the sun.

This is a weekly feature at Down to Earth

 

Little Nicky

Nicky is Greg's cat (our son's cat) - yeah right! He does this EVERY morning after he eats his breakfast. When Greg went to Boot Camp it was like we traded cats; Nicky just started hanging close to me like this and Mr. Tesla pined  for Greg in Greg's room. Nicky is a real affectionate cat ALL THE TIME. Tesla on the other hand has to deem you worthy and then affection can be given only when he is in THE MOOD. Such different personalities. Because of his long hair I brush Nicky nearly everyday; especially right now with it warming up as he is shedding heavy and if I didn't brush him OH what a mess we'd have.

Pink to Purple...

Last week the flowers I featured in posts were all pink; this week they are purple. This is the Wisteria that is blooming behind our garage beside my composting bins. I absolutely love it's beauty but it can and will take over if not managed intently and this has grown far beyond where I would have liked. It's especially hard to manage since the neighbors put up the privacy fencing and created a dead zone that neither one of us can get to so the wisteria just grows and grows.

The bees are working this quite intently and when I was out there taking these photos they kept checking out my violet colored shirt as well. The pollen has reached a status of MISERABLE and we are all living on Walgreen's brand of Zyrtec. 

The mail was such a disappointment today - just junk. It all went straight into the trash. When we get everything paid off we will get hardly any 'old fashioned" mail. Perhaps I will start writing REAL letters once more; there is just something special about taking the time to sit down and compose a letter by your own hand and then mailing it to someone. A little note of brightness! Something you would not expect.... hmmmmmmm... I have a few minutes before I have to get ready for work. Perhaps I will drop my address book and see where it opens up and then write someone a SURPRISE!

A Little Something I whipped up

I just made this little reversible bag today for a niece's birthday. I hope that she will like it. I also made her an initial choker to wear; nothing fancy - just fun!

I will have LOTS of time for projects around the house this week as I'm only scheduled to work one evening. I'll do my best to fill the hours of "FREE" time. I need to walk the yard and make a list of everything that needs attention. And I also have those 6 projects I pulled out of "the tub of UFO's" a couple months back so that I could have them finished before the end of March -  I guess I better get busy huh? Only 10 more days left in this month. I should have LOTS to share throughout this week.

Spirituality is all around us

Nature is a gift that we should all cherish and care for everyday. It has something to offer all of our senses.... if we can not see we can still hear and touch; if we can not hear we still can see and touch and if we lost the ability to hear and see we would still be able to touch and feel all the wonderful textures of Nature. Perhaps that is why some flowers have no scent but are outstandingly beautiful like these camellias from my garden.

The white one is damaged and I may loose it. I'm going to try tying it back upright and see if it heals itself.

And I crocheted this doily several years ago. I love doing crocheted doilies with size 10 cotton thread. They are quick and turn out so lovely and feminine.

On My Mind - Flowering Almond

 My Flowering Almond is at it's peak and will soon fade to brown just as it's leaves appear. I just had to share a couple more photos of it. I tried to get a close up so you can see that it's covered in little pink floral balls - I think it looks like cotton candy.

"On My Mind" is a weekly feature at Down To Earth

Ah Pollen Season has arrived

Yesterday when I got in my car to come home from my job I noticed the first sign of REAL Spring.... pollen on my car's hood. And this morning I have the most dreadful headache. It is time to start taking a daily allergy tablet and drink more water. I am really tired working a straight 6 days of 6 hour shifts going at full speed to get a bunch of plan-o-gram sets done at the store. the Scrap-booking department is getting a complete revamping. Yesterday I worked 4 (2 1/2 foot) sections of the stickers each section containing 50 to 100+ different stickers and there is like 75 feet of stickers now. Today I will get a break from setting plan-o-grams as it's truck day and we are all hoping that all the new stuff will be on it so we can fill all those empty pegs. Next week I will have more time at home and I am looking forward to the chance to do a bit of yard work and sewing. I'll check in again later today.

A Double Batch of Bread Pudding

I had bought a baguette thinking we'd make spaghetti but then we didn't and the bread was getting a bit on the harder side; so tonight I decided to make up some old fashioned bread pudding. I had to double the recipe to use all the bread up so we have a lasagna pan FULL of bread pudding. YUMMY! I'd take it into work tomorrow if I thought anyone there would like it. Some of the old fashioned recipes are poo pooed by the younger folks.... they just don't know what they are missing out on. The house smells of nutmeg and cinnamon and comfort.

Handy Husband and Flowering Almond

OH! I'm one lucky gal as I have such a handy husband. The water pump went out on my Buick and Scott went right to work getting parts and looking up on how to do the job of replacing the water pump. Today I had my car back to drive to work and I was one happy gal! 

This is my Flowering Almond in our front yard. I absolutely adore this bush and have planted one at every house that we have lived in My Grandma Carr had one when I was growing up on the farm in New York. Every time I see it in bloom like this it reminds me of her.  It has some "babies" under it that I am going to try to transplant. I will definitely want these where ever I live in the future.

Something New to Read

I just ordered a subscription to Mary Jane's Farm magazine. I read about it on Heather's blog (link on the right). Mary Jane's website has some fun and creative videos you can watch as well - FREE.

If you are celebrating St Patrick's Day this weekend do be careful and have a designated driver.

I guess I better get to cutting a few things out - I'll be checking back in later today!

My Healing Cat

Last night I took a hot bath followed by an Aleve tablet and a glass of water and went to bed before Scott. It wasn't long after I got settled in that my "healer" showed up; Tesla knows when and where my legs hurt and instinctively knows where to apply pressure to give me some relief from the screaming muscles. I called to Scott and told him to bring the camera; this is what he captured...

The reason for the leg pain this time was I have spent a lot of time squatting; getting down on my knees; and bending and stooping working on the new scrap-book paper layout - LOTS of new papers including ACETATE SHEETS! Something that EVERYONE has been asking for. And yesterday I had also helped unload 4 u-boat carts full of yarn in a 2 hour period. I really enjoy stocking and setting plan-o-grams more than anything else so I am thrilled that this is the position they gave me the opportunity to fill. Now if my body will just hold up to it all. I did have to buy some reading glasses as the labels are quite difficult to read - REALLY small print. 

Tomorrow I want to do a little gardening and some sewing since I am off from work. Will post about it all tomorrow night.

On my mind.... Summer Sewing and Jewelry

I picked up 4 new patterns today and will be making some of these pieces for myself and I love getting the little "freebie" sheets for projects and may make myself some jewelry to match my new outfits. I especially love the skirt with the BIG pockets.
This is a weekly feature at Down To Earth . Why not join in the fun and write up an "On my Mind" post of your very own - leave a comment under Rhonda's blog with a link to your post and we can all visit each other via the web.

Birthday plans all fell through

I'm not going to Mary Jo's like I wanted to; I'm not getting to see my Mom like I wanted to and I'm not going or doing anything special for my birthday... BUT you know what it doesn't really matter. I'm enjoying a quiet day at home and have been organizing and filing all the craft ideas I've printed off the Interent and have them all in files now. Wondering if I will ever do most of them. If I had a decent lounge chair I'd go out and sit in the backyard and take a nap. 

Scott and I discussed the possible job in Virginia and decided it really wasn't a "fit" for us. It would take us farther away from our dreams. We aren't interested in living in any over crowded city or living in a house thats just a Mc-Mansion with a bunch of STUFF. We long for a quiet life away from all the hustle and bustle and all the excess consumption. Where we can work together to produce as much for ourselves as we can. We are going to hang on here for as long as we can and continue to hope and pray for something to become available right here and  we will down-size DRASTICALLY! We are planning to sell anything we don't use on a regular basis and clear out a bunch of stuff thats just taking up space and hoping to make a little money doing it. And as soon as we can get this house ready to sell it will be sold and we will move into a smaller home. We don't use all this space so it's pretty much a waste of money to stay here. Our "dream" now is to be in a smaller home with less "stuff"  to care for.  Perhaps a shift of housework to more gardening chores and some chickens and possibly rabbits. We should have just done that when we first got together instead of jumping on the Commercialism train to Bill Slavery. I completely understand the term "working poor" - thats what we are. We work to give someone else our money - doesn't make a bit of sense to me anymore. 

So the people around us are stuck with us!

OH I miss HIM so!

OH I MISS GREG!!! I'm in AGONY here!

Tesla is missing Greg SO BAD! He stayed near his bedroom door nearly ALL DAY yesterday waiting for him to come home for cat and kid time. I had to snap a few pictures just so Greg can see how much he is missed by his entire family...

Before we went out to run a few errands we went in our back yard and found some new blooms to share as well as a progress shot of Scott's hard necked garlic...

Grape Hyacinths

Hard neck garlic

Bradford Pear Tree

Abby in her birthday purple sweater

My little niece, Abby in her "purple sweater". I think it fits her really well and I am glad that she likes it. 

Perhaps tomorrow will contain a bit of sewing as well. I desperately NEED Summer clothes but have ZERO money --- BUT I have an AWESOME fabric stash to shop from right here at home. Just got to get busy. Oh and my dolly is still waiting for her dress.

How did that cat get so fat?

Tesla getting the very LAST piece of food out of their cat food container

In our front yard - SPRING!

WELCOME SPRING!