Tomorrow is my little one’s birthday.
He was a cute baby!!
No honey, these are not for you. But I am making him his own cupcakes and will show you this week.
Okay, he is not that little.
But he is handsome
Fast
I mean really fast
Loving, yes there is a child under him.. He is greeting him.
Weird
A good friend
A helpful gardener
A Momma’s boy
A Clown
My favorite Easter bunny
Little Red Riding Hood
Or The Cowardly Lion
But a wonderful dog!!
A place on earth where my family would know unconditional love and acceptance. But more than that, a corner of this earth where their world would be just LOVELY… like when you bite into a piece of exquisite chocolate cake. My desire was that home would a refuge, a haven.
My dining room:
My living room:
And maybe lovely is too shallow a word but it encompasses my goal for my family. Their dinners would be lovely, their rooms would be lovely, their parents would be lovely to them.
Your unique qualities make you qualified to be the wife and mother to your family. Despite Oprah’s message to live your best life, my message is
Second Aspiration:
You are God’s gift to your children and husband as they are to you.
My difficult childhood made me uniquely qualified to care for my family in my way. It may not be the right way, it may not be the way others would raise their family but I am the best mother to my children and the best wife to my husband.
With seven raised garden beds in close proximity to each other, it is a wise idea to rotate the beds. In addition, raised beds can be depleted of nutrients quickly. Last fall, we rototilled manure and compost into each garden bed before we tucked them in for the winter.
So here is my plan for this year… and my cabbage/broccoli bed will turn to a pumpkin squash bed when they are depleted in the beginning of June.
Also, I found this seed and garden planner at Clyde’s. It was only five dollars and allows you to know the seed start date, planting date and harvest date for most vegetables.
Simply slide the spring to the last date of frost in your zone and the dates are lined up. Flip the planner over and it will let you know all the fall planting dates.
This weekend we are cleaning out the greenhouse in preparation of seed starting!!! Broccoli and cabbage get started February 8. Also, I ordered the bare root roses and they need to be planted as soon as they arrive.
Spring is coming and while I may be laid up with my knee… the garden is going to be up and about soon!!
My dogs are big!!!
Really big!!! But ohhh so handsome!!!
Too big for the cute sweaters most pet stores sell but that should not prevent my dogs from looking cute in cold weather. I just got out my knitting needles and got busy.
Here is a new one I am knitting!
I knitted a tube from the bottom of my dog’s bottom… up to his arm pits, based on his chest measurements.
Next, I separated the amount of the sweater I needed to knit in arm holes.
Then I knitted both sections until I had enough of a separation for the arm holes and rejoined the knitting together.
Next, I started to reduce the stitches of the tube to narrow around the dog’s neck. I use a row counter to make sure both sides are the same number of rows.
So here he is in another sweater I knitted. You can see where I separated the sweater for the armholes.
In addition, I added a v-neck to the sweater opening to allow the sweater to go over the dog’s head much easier.
He can play with it on!!
And obviously he can run with it on!!! I just love how he runs so hard his ears fly backwards.
And obviously, he can be hugged and loved… even squished!
Knitting a dog sweater is a great project for a new knitter because if you make a mistake the dog’s won’t mind…
I will finish my red sweater for his birthday and let you see!!! I am trying to plan a birthday party for him on Sunday but who knows if I can get all his friends here in time?
With Valentines Day, several weeks away, a special meal is on everyone's mind. Do you go out? Do you eat in? If you eat in, what do you make. Lobster tail, a little pricey, can be a wonderful treat that does not a long time to cook. Also, how often do you eat it? So lobster is a special dish.
And look... this is color coordinated with Valentines. We never go out to eat on Valentines… tooo expensive, too crowded and the food is never good.
Take the lobster tail.
With a kitchen shears, cut through the tail.
Split the tail open slightly.
Season with butter, salt and pepper and broil for 5 to 10 minutes or until meat is white.
A special dinner for two special people.
I bought two tails for $30 at Sam’s Club, served it with baked potatoes, a lovely salad and dinner rolls… Much less than a special dinner out and it takes very little time to cook.
If you want to make it less expensive, add shrimp and two smaller tails..
That being said, I have been preparing for my limited motility after the surgery.
Recently, I decided to move the secretary from the living room to my bedroom, giving me a place to write bills, letters and blog without having to go downstairs to my office.
I think this change was a great addition to the bedroom.
It looks pretty and is very functional. I will be able to keep up with everyone, while I convalesce.
I finally decided to paint the kitchen cabinets and woodwork this week. The garden seed order will be placed as well as some bare root roses. I haven’t finished the kitchen curtains but should be done on Monday. I also want to put a gift together for my three roommates at Blissdom. Hubby is home on Friday and I need help cleaning out the greenhouse… I wish we could just put our feet up but as you all know..I have a deadline.
Have:
Need:
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 can kidney beans, drained
• 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 1 28oz can diced tomatoes
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 medium jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 and 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 and 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
Add garlic, jalapeno, and onion to the meat. Saute until the onions are translucent.
Stir in chili powder, brown sugar, oregano, cumin, allspice, and cloves. Heat the cumin before adding the tomatoes. Add tomatoes and tomato sauce. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
Add kidney beans. Cook chili con carne recipe for an hour. I tend to leave the chili on the stove all afternoon, but I like to have my chili really mellow.
One of the worse things for a mother is watching their children grow up and leave the nest.
One of the benefits of them growing up is you get to see what neat adults they are becoming… a fair trade off. Even though I love toddlers, elementary school, middle school and high schoolers.
But when did they get skills?
I mean like shredding?
You were the child who hung to the rails when you roller skated?
You did grow up to be very handsome!!!
And you guys like Dr. Pepper…. like father
Like daughter!!!
P.S. My husband is hoping we will get a free case of Dr. Pepper, if they read this blog… I doubt they read the blog, dear.
When I initially started this blog, I believed I had a vision that I wanted to share with others. My vision was to reconnect women with the art of home-making. An art that has been diminished over the last several decades. Homemaking has suffered from two confusing messages to women.
2. Or unless you are Martha Stewart and can whip up your own soap, you are a failure.
The common theme in both these messages is that women should not value home-making.
My goal was to bust this theory wide open. That being said, I do not feel that I have been effective in conveying this message. Oh I have shared my menus, daily schedule, decorate a cookie, etc. But not the message.
So for the next several Fridays. I am going to hammer this message home with several core beliefs.
The first core belief: You are the heart of your home.
As a woman, you are the heart… the center… the pulse. You set the tone for your home.
Next week: Do you need to make your own soap to be a good homemaker?
