New Year!

I know that I am EARLY in wishing you all a Happy New Year but I am sitting here thinking while the guys are still asleep about everything I'd love for the New Year to hold.

1. Less Clutter - getting rid of things that are just taking up space and not full filling any need.

2. Getting more organized - less clutter will make keeping the house clean so much easier.

3. Buying less "stuff" - focus on items with minimal packaging so when the product is gone all that is left is something that will recycle or bio-degrade easily.

4. Focus all my creative energy in using items I all ready have on hand - crafting purchases limited to complete consumable supplies (see #3).

5. Change our diet to a healthier Diabetic diet - reduce cook books to those that follow that plan - THIS ONE WILL BE EXTREMELY HARD FOR ME!

6. Reduce BILLS! - Change phone Companies - reduce heating and cooling costs by wearing more clothes in the winter and utilizing fans in the Summer more.

7. Work my way through one tub of fabric a month until I've created a wardrobe that fits my crazy body - lots of easy breezy dresses and short sets!

8. Work on quilt squares as I am making clothes to use every bit of thread - At the end of every seam sew a portion of a quilt block and before I know it I will have a stack of blocks to be put together for gift giving next Christmas.

9. Plan and follow through on having an awesome vegetable garden!

10. This one is for fun - see a live performance at least 4 to 6 times this coming year.

What are your plans for the coming year? I'm going to print this post off and hang it on our refrigerator and see if I can get the guys to do a list of ten things as well.

Here is a link for anyone interested in de-cluttering, I found it helpful to get my thoughts headed in the direction I want to go...clean-and-clutter-free

Tragedy in my Family

On Christmas day my youngest cousin Cindy and her 6 kids lost their home and everything in it to a house fire. A fund has been set up to raise money to help them and I am sharing the link on here in the hopes some may donate to the cause. Cindy Carr Family Fire

Thanks to all that help... includes Prayers given for them as well.

Craft Group Meetup!

Well it was sort of a group Meetup... Laurel and I had fun creating polar bears and reindeer. I had seen a Pin on Pinterest and decided I wanted to try making some and when I discovered Jo-Ann's carried white/off-white ceramic bulbs we had a go. I bought the bulbs and pom poms and googlie eyes and here are the two I came up with; now residing on our tree...

They really turned out super adorable and went together SUPER fast!

Laurel furnished the supplies to make this cute little candy holder; you squeeze his cheeks and his mouth opens...

Christmas Work Load

I am so ready for Christmas to get here all ready. I LOVE Christmas NOT the crazy work hours and load of Retail. Every year I start thinking about changing to something else work wise... and then another crazy season arrives and I do it all again.

We went up to my folks last Saturday and got to spend some time with them and  these little munchkins...

We had a nice time but were sore the next day from getting down on the floor to play with the kids. Stupid bodies!

And I have been crocheting; I started making a hat for a little girl in North Dakota that is not going to have much of a Christmas as the families funds have gone to a funeral for her Great- Grandma, I need to pick up some different yarn and make 3 hats to add to the small gifts that I have purchased for her and her 2 siblings. Here is the hat I made that turned out too small...

When I posted a picture to Facebook of this little hat it creating a couple orders for hats by a friend. She wanted two hats for her twin nieces in pink camo with their initials on  them ad this is what I came up with...

She is thrilled with the hats! And I do believe they turned out REALLY nice.

Yesterday I made a bow for the wreath I am going to make for our front door. I just need to pick up some floral wire today. I am looking forward to having a wreath on the front of the house as we have not had one since moving here.  Thats all I have to share at the moment.

I hope all are doing well~!

A New Member!

To my Santa Collection that is....

Day 4 and 5 of Christmas

I'm pulling things together to make a wreath for our front door and I got some gifts wrapped for our son. I'm making a list of things to complete projects and am planning my New Year's goals of using things up around here. Purchasing less "NEW" stuff and only buying things that COMPLETE projects.

Gifts are appearing under our tree.

I just need some picks of fruits and/or berries and to locate the wire to attach the evergreen bits to the wreath. OH and some wide ribbon for a bow.

Scott and I are also planning to work on purging a LOT of stuff we never use to decrease the amount of STUFF in our home and to make it easier to find things and to keep the house tidy. 2015 is going to be a Simplifying year for us... getting down to the things that are truly useful to us or hold special memories. A year of completing more projects and getting our house in order. After all this Holiday rush is over we will work at getting our new shed completed so that we can re-organize the garage/shop so that Scott can get more wood working projects completed and so that Greg can get more organized and more done on his old car so that it will be on the road once more. A year of completions is ahead. Time to get back to truly LIVING our lives around here.

Day 3 - It's beginning to look like Christmas!

Day 2 of Christmas

Christmas Cat Socks to make the day Merry!

Day 1 of Christmas

OH I had such GRAND plans for today... laundry, deep clean the four rooms that need to be decorated for Christmas.... yeah... well that did not happen. I came home from work, ate some lunch and then went to bed until nearly 4 PM. I guess I was just flat out exhausted from the night shifts, flip back to mornings and catching the cold Greg brought home from a friend. So today was a deep rest day for me and I will get the decorating done throughout the week.

How we handle Christmas has changed so much this past few years. Giving fewer gifts to extended family and trying to spend more time with those that we cherish. I do want to send out Christmas cards this week and get the trees up and decorated. So perhaps  will have some pictures to share later in the week.

I'm still surprisingly tired so will say good night here. It is so much harder to bounce back form weird scheduling these days. Take care.

A Gentle Walk in The Wods

Old Mans Beards or Lions Main Fungi - Edible

Crazy Raccooon!

Was eating leaves off this tree... way up  in the top of the tree.

I AM SO TIRED!

I worked overnight last night and should really be asleep at this point but Greg wanted his hair cut... then I wanted a bath but the hot water was used up before me... so I had a cool bath which has made me NOT sleepy. SO... I've cut Greg's hair and have started a pot of beans for some Bean Soup for later. Perhaps I will get some rest eventually.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with some of Scott's family.... lots of yummy food! We w ill catch up with some of my family next weekend.

I took this really neat picture through the window of our front door of our Hawthorne cherry tree. The Fall leaves have been absolutely beautiful this year.

 And one afternoon this past week Scott came in from work and said to go out front as there was a double rainbow. And there sure was and it was beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by!

MY MIL's Corn Bread Dressing

JULIA’S CORNBREAD DRESSING

 8 cups Day old cornbread/biscuits/bread crumbled

1.5 cups Celery, chopped

1 cup Onion, Chopped

2 quarts Chicken broth

1 -3 T  Sage, according to your taste preference

Salt/Pepper  To taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Add chicken broth to desired consistency.  If baking in a pan add a bit more broth.  For stuffing the bird use less broth.Bake at 400 F for ~30 minutes or until set

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Twelve Things I am Thankful for....

1. A loving marriage
2. A wonderful son
3. A comfortable home
4. An enjoyable job that I enjoy most days
5. Every sunrise and sunset
6. Food on my table
7. A wonderful extended family
8. Friends around the World
9. My Creative abilities
10. Our furry children
11. Time to enjoy Nature
12. And LIFE!

GOOD SATURDAY MORNING!!!!

I'm here! YES! Posting again... We had a bit of a HAT crisis here this past week. Scott has somehow misplaced his beloved hat that I made him several years ago; seen below in this photo of the two of us.

SO being the GREAT wife I am ( ha ha) I whipped up another and this one is made of super warm Merino Wool. I LOVE working with Natural fibers!

He is thrilled with the new hat but we are both hoping his gray hat turns up too.

When I shared the photos of the new hat with my co-workers my Boss said she wanted "one of my hats" so she bought the yarn and I made her one as well. I made her a slouch hat. I really like how it turned out and am going to make myself one soon.

Greg tried his hand at making a sweet potato pie last weekend. His filling turned out pretty good but I need to work with him on the crust as he over worked it a bit and it was sorta tough.
He does pretty good in the kitchen for a 28 year old... now if he could just find a young woman that would appreciate it. Someday!

Scott got his car and our old truck back up to running once more. His car needed a new hose and the truck's alternator had failed but luckily it was under a life time warranty. He says his car needs a sensor that we will need to get soon but it is running now so we will get the part as soon as we can. The dishwasher is still awaiting repair but hopefully we will be able to order the parts for that soon as well. Everything seems to be falling a part around here.

But things will improve... at least for awhile.

BRRR... weather has hit

It's stayed in the mid 40's today.... CHILLY! Made me wish I had a REAL winter coat; the coats they sell down here are just not warm enough for cutting winds and chill factors. Of course Greg has decided that he'd like to cook our dinner tonight on the grill! Yep outdoor grill at 46*... glad it's him and not me. He is making a dish called "Chicken under a brick" and some corn on the cob. I am just making some carrot coins to go with it.

In other news... this is what $172 dollars will buy you...

Thats right... ONE Tire! OUCH! The tire it replaced had a bulge that was about to burst and the belts were splitting so it had to be purchased. We need to buy another one to match and have them switch the old tire on the other side of the truck for  the recalled long ago Firestone spare under the truck when we can afford it. But Greg's tuition is due by the 12th of December and that will have to come first. I tell you it's always something! I hope he finds work SOON.

Yesterday I took a couple pictures of two of my "fellas". Tesla missed Scott so much yesterday that he got jealous of the laptop and climb into Scott's lap and got between the two and remained there quite happily for some time. I'm not so sure it was too comfortable for Scott though but Tesla looks quite satisfied... don't you think?

Wednesday morning "The Roach Mobile" would not start so Scott had to drive the truck with the bad tire to get to work. He thinks he needs a couple sensors on it as it seems to not know how it's firing order goes and will not start. When it rains it POURS in repairs and bills. Scott had taken Monday and Tuesday off to get a few days of vacation used up and to catch up on some projects around here. He painted the ceiling in the laundry room it is looking so nice and BRIGHT!

 And he did this to my dishwasher...

Yep... it needs parts too! Remember ... it rains when it pours!
So I am back to doing dished like this...

It reminds me of my childhood. My Grandma was a firm believer that dish washers never got the dishes clean and wouldn't buy one.

I've started preparing two canvas back grounds for the little 4x4 canvases that fellow Crafter's sent to me from around the World. I still have quite aways to go but this is the start so far.

These are the little canvases in their layout... I will put them back just like this once the back grounds are completed. When they are all finished I will post some more pictures on here for you all to see.

I guess that about gets everyone caught up and I hope everyone is staying warm and doing well.

The "Season" has arrived...

I don't know how things are anywhere else in the World but people here are shopping early and shopping hard. The store is packed as soon as we open... or so it seems. It's such a mad house! I'm working more hours and longer days... GREAT for the pay check not so much for my 50 year old body. Definitely aching more at the end of each day.

Our son, Greg was let go from his job due to budget cuts and has not found another job yet so I will be helping him with his bills. Hoping he finds another job and SOON. It's not an easy job market to get back into these days.

I guess the best way to get things caught back up is through photos as I always have my camera with me these days... Well it seems the last pictures are all of Greg and his jack-o-lantern on Halloween. So I really have been just eating, sleeping and going to work. Greg brought this HUGE Pumpkin home on his Moped... he was stopped several times by people in the neighborhood wanting to take his picture as it was quite humorous... of course I don't have any of THOSE photos myself. We had a nice Halloween with about 25 trick-or-treaters; I miss the days when we would have so many kids we'd run out of candy but I guess those days are gone for good.

HAPPY FALL YA' ALL!!!!