A Time To Clean

The next few weeks are filled with a huge project that must be done now.  I find many ways to put off cleaning the basement and it is just causing me grief.  I cannot sew, I cannot bead, I cannot do anything until things are put away.  That is why the silence last week.  Many things are done, and I am feeling better about that, but there is more to do.  I cannot be distracted by the computer, the blog, the Facebook, the Pinterest.  I must get at it first thing and work until exhausted.  Therefore, I won't post much unless it is just too exciting to keep to myself.

HAPPY LEAP YEAR DAY


BLOG'nGRAM

More Gratitude Give Me

More Gratitude give me.  An attitude of gratitude. (President Monson, General Conference Talk, April 1992.)

A popular refrain from the 1940s captured the thought:

Accentuate the positive;

Eliminate the negative.

Latch on to the affirmative;

Don’t mess with Mr. In-between. ¹

Good advice then. Good advice now.

We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. 

Gratitude can lift our lives as we see the wondrous world that was created and families and friends that help us get through the hard days, and most of all our Savior who loves us most.

HAPPY DAY


BLOG'nGRM 

Yesterday's Job

Due to inclement spirit the business of Monday will be reassigned to today.  If there are trends on Tuesday, I am not aware of them this week.

The objective of the day is to find a place to set up my plant trays.  Dan was very accommodating to my mood and took me out of the house to look at shelves.  I went with red eyes and sunglasses and as is always inevitable we ran into neighbors.  

There were no shelves better than the ones that are here in my back yard, so the excursion became a getaway.  Who gets a getaway to Home Depot?  Exhilarating. I came home with resolve to work it out, but it was raining outside and the temp had dropped considerably so the job was left for today. I set an alarm to get to it early and I'm outta here.

The aluminum shelf I needed was covered with pots and containers with 'stuff' for plant keeping on it.  All of my bonsai pots were there with two bonsai plants that I started last summer.  All of them were full of water that had frozen including my bonsai lilac bush.  The only pot that cracked was the bonsai.  It will have to be replaced this spring.  Fortunately, I have an identical pot.  

Tip:  always bring ceramic pots inside in the winter or dump the soil out of them because the freezing soil will crack the pot every time.  I have a bunch of pots in the garage because I didn't want to empty all of them last fall.  I knew they would freeze and break.  The two that were left outside all winter are broken.

I spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the shelves and cleaning up the conservatory where I would put it.  There was a lot of clean up from the cat box, spilled water and tons of dead leaves on the floor.

The beginning.

I now have to dig out my plant lights and hook them up under the top shelf.  The light from the window is good light but seedlings need more light to grow properly and not tall and spindly.  

Those little sprouts are now good sized and need the flat turned each day to give them some exercise as they head to the light.  Notice the leeks are springing out of the ground today.  They will be 4" high in a day or two.  The pepper seed will need heat to sprout so I must get the lights on them asap.

Leaning toward the light

Newborn Leeks

So Cute!

It is so fun to watch them pop out of the ground.  I love it.

The next flat will be lettuce and other greens that can thrive in the cooler weather and can be transplanted outside early. It is exciting to think about gardening again.  It never gets old. From the time the seed catalogs come in the mail to the first planting outdoors--it is heaven.  

HAPPY PLANTING

BLOG'nGRAM

 

This Cracks Me Up

My day cracked about mid-afternoon.  Everything got scrambled.  

So have a little chocolate on me.  

BTW:  I ate all the good ones.

Don't let the Goombahs eat you!

HAPPY MAKING OMELETS

BLOG'nGRAM

More Purpose In Prayer

Purpose means more deliberate, more meaning, more thoughtful,  simply more.   Like it says in the manual, Preach My Gospel, "He (Heavenly Father) wants to communicate with us, and we can communicate with Him through sincere prayer."  (Chapter 3, Lesson 1)  The most important word is 'communicate'.  We can talk to Heavenly Father.  Actually.  Sincere Prayer.  

President Hinckley said:  "The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the telephone and ordering groceries--we place our order and hang up.  We need to meditate, contemplate, think of what we are praying about and for and then speak to the Lord as one man speaketh to another." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 469).

That is the way to pray with purpose.  Then we need to listen.

HAPPY PRAYERS


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More Turquoise

This beauty is called Trail-of-Turquoise-Necklace.  It is another favorite project of Fusion Beads.  I love anything turquoise.  I did not change it, I liked it the way it is made.  Thank you, Fusion Beads for such beautiful ideas. 

Trail of Turquoise Necklace

It is made with Antique Gold chain, an Antique Gold toggle, and 6mm Magnasite beads.  It also has Swarovski 6mm Coral gemcolor pearls, 6mm Jade gemcolor pearls and 11 X 8 Ivory Drop gemcolor pearls.

Easy to make.  Fun to wear.

HAPPY BEADING

BLOG'nGRAM

Freely Friday

Today is Free Friday.  I can feel free to do whatever I like today.  I need a better name:  Freaky Friday, Finally Friday, Free Fries, I haven't come up with just the right title.  I have Windsday Pinsday, and need something for Friday to indicate that I plan to let my hair down, so to speak.  I would welcome suggestions.  We could take a vote.

I have updated the last two posts with pictures if you want to take a peek. 

First, (please, never say first of all; it makes me shutter because it is always followed by second of all.  Bad dog.) therefore, first,  I have a surprise for you.  A dozen plus pix and it still looks blurry.

Number 1

My first little sprout of leaf cabbage.  It is so cute.  I can't believe it has sprouted in four days without any lights or special care.  The flat is still sitting on my Island counter.  It must be warm in here in spite of the storm/cloudy days.  It is not the only one; there are little sprouts pushing up the soil all over the flat.  I almost missed this momentous occasion.  Good thing it was right in front of me.  I am going to celebrate with Popcorn and a movie--The Martian that I rented for free with Amazon money I earned for shipping most of my Christmas packages by regular mail.  It may be an Amazon Prime thing.

Notice there is another little tiny seedling coming up behind this one.  I always plant extra just in case something happens to one of them.

Isn't it cute?

Second:

A little tip I thought about while cleaning the shower. Actually two tips:

Be sure to wash your bath scrubby once in a while so you won't get skin breakouts, especially in a moist climate.  It would be wise to do it once a week or month at least.  Put it in a hot wash like the white clothes if possible.  I put mine in a net bra washing bag.  I have two and so I put the sponges that I used cleaning the bathrooms in the other one.  The sponges I bought at Costco in bulk are not very sturdy. They fall apart after a few weeks and I have to toss them. I still like to put them through a wash cycle after use then dry on the top of the dryer, not in the dryer.

Next tip:  Use old scrubbies to wipe down the shower each time you shower.  Just rub it down with a soapy scrubby and it will diminish soap scum on the tiles. It will be easier to clean the shower later on.  It works better than shower sprays.  (I don't use this one on my body so I have to lather up the old scrubby with a little of my liquid body soap.)

an old bath scrubby

Third tip:  (Just remembered)  Use Command Hooks to hang scrubbies higher than the shower head to keep them dryer.  They won't get as germy.  (You might want to avoid placing them above the soap holder.)  The hooks will hold for years.

One more shower cleaning tip:  Clean all the bathrooms but your own, but spray down your shower before starting, especially if you use something awful smelling like Clorox, or Tilex.  Turn on the fan or open the window (or both) and go back to the other bathrooms first.  When you get to that last bathroom, clean the shower last.  Remove your clothing and get in to clean it.  No bleachy stuff on your shoes or clothing.  Scrub it down and then take your shower.  You may need it by then because after cleaning three bathrooms, like I do, you are probably all sweaty anyway. No picture of this one.  Gross!

That's all folks.

HAPPY FRIDAY

BLOG'nGRAM

Love Story

A lovely quote appeared on Joss & Main the other day and I pinned it.  I couldn't afford to buy it so I decided to make my own.  This is a practice run.  I have my black board started, but never finished to put my menu on, but I cannot decide how to finish it.  In the meantime, I have been writing little quotes on it.  

This is my offering for the rest of this Valentine's Day Month of February:

I should have taken the picture this morning before the black clouds rolled in with lightning and thunder dropping the temperature by 25 degrees and raining and hailing and finally snowing.  Now at night by the light of the dining room chandelier it looks yellowish, but it is not.  I will try again in the morning.  It is supposed to be back in the 50's tomorrow with partial clouds.  I should be able to get better light some time in between those partial clouds.

( [2/19] A better version, but very difficult to shoot, the light from the conservatory overwhelmed the picture and I didn't want to move my board or all the cute little hearts would be gone.  It took a lot of finagaling to tame this extra light.  It is still not great.)

This rendition in chalk work is my first.  It is a little rough, but I like it.  It has all the sentiment of the month of Love.  I hope you have renewed your love this month.  Like January, where we renew our goals; February should be the month when we renew our love. I have the greatest respect and admiration for my sweetheart who has been so attentive while I recover from surgery.  He had been great.

HAPPY LOVIN'

BLOG'nGRAM

Windsday Pinsday Breakfast

Two breakfast recipes are featured today:  Amish Baked Oatmeal and Avocado Toast  With Egg, Spinach and Tomato.  I made these this week and they are good.  For carbs, the oatmeal is a little high for my diet, but I can cut back a little at lunch.  

Amish Baked Oatmeal is a great alternative to mush which is what we called cooked oatmeal when I was young. 

The pin for Amish Baked Oatmeal  It is taken from the Gooseberry Best-Ever Casseroles Cookbook.  The blog is Mostly Homemade Mom.  I follow this one because I like homemade recipes.  Another pin I have is Amish Baked Oatmeal It is not a blog that I follow, but I have used the recipe that I pinned.  It varies in that it is double the size and will fill the pan deeper than the other one.  It also has cinnamon that I did not use.    

This is my version:

Amish Baked Oatmeal 

2  eggs, beaten1 C milk or light cream 1/2 C pure maple syrup1/4 C butter, melted1 tsp. pure vanilla1/2 tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)1 1/2 tsp baking powder3 C old fashioned oats

Mix together liquid ingredients; add baking powder and oats stirring well after each. Place in buttered or sprayed 8x8 inch glass dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set.  Eat hot or cold with milk. Add fruit, cinnamon and apples, or other additions before cooking, but try it this way first.  For Coconut Baked Oatmeal use coconut oil and coconut milk.  Yum.

Of course, I adapted my recipe.  I used maple syrup instead of sugar or brown sugar.  I did not add cinnamon, but liked the vanilla and maple sugar flavor.  I made the second one because it made more, and we can eat it more than once.  I included the first one if you want less to try it out.  Or, cut this recipe in half.

The second pin comes from blog I follow called Two Peas & Their Pod.  They live in Salt Lake and may be vegetarian or gluten free judging from their menus they publish each week. I have been using their menu plan as one of the guides to planning my own menu lately.  I have a new pin board called Menu Day Blues for multiple menu type pins to facilitate easier planning for my own menu.  The pin I found this week is a delicious sandwich that I ate for breakfast, and pinned it on my Breakfast of Champions board. but it could be used anytime of day.   It has the rather cumbersome name of  avocado-toast-with-eggs-spinach-tomatoes ; regardless of the name it is good protein packed meal.

Here is my version:

Avocado Egg Breakfast Toast 

1 piece artisan bread (I used Ciabatta)2-3 T Goat Cheese 1/2 small avocado, mashed1 egg cooked over easy--partially soft yolk1/2 small tomato chopped     Baby Spinach leaves whole 

Spread the goat cheese then avocado on the bread.  Cook the egg, folding to the shape of the bread after turning. Place on top of avocado.  Pile on tomato and spinach leaves and enjoy.  This is an open faced sandwich and the spinach leaves help to hold it together.  Keep a fork on hand to scoop up the drips, or eat it with a fork if your bread is softer.  The egg yolk squeezes out onto the sandwich adding a deliciously good flavor.  This is Carl's Junior messy.

It looks like I didn't snap a picture of either of these, but I will make the sandwich tomorrow with my remaining avocado and will add it in then.  Enjoy your food.  It is so much better that way.

[2/19]

([2/19]I tried drizzling a little olive oil with basil on the sandwich this morning and it is good, but not necessary.  It makes it even more slippery and difficult to eat.)


HAPPY COOKING


BLOG'nGRAM 

• 
  

Planting The Seed

Today is the day that I plant the leeks.  Leeks are 100 days to maturity (after transplanting to the garden) and must be planted early.  Last week would have been better, but the seed came in the mail late.  By plant I do not mean I went out in the garden and planted them under the 12" of snow that remains in my back yard.  No, I planted them in a flat of individual two inch plugs.  The seed requires warm temperatures in order to germinate.  Even though it got into the 50's today, it is not warm enough to plant anything outdoors.  This is a flat with 50 plugs to plant in:

I had to find the equipment and soil outside in the shed.  That was not an easy job since I put the potting stuff in the back of the shed and then filled up the whole shed last fall.  It required moving chicken bedding, gates, tables and squeezing into the little aisle that was opened up to reach the trays.  I did it twice because the bottoms trays that I brought into the house had little holes in them and leaked the water out all over my counter.  That is not good, and I had to go back into the shed to get better trays.  I water the plants from the bottom until the seedlings are established. The tray underneath must be without holes so it can be filled with water for the top tray to soak up the water.  

I start the first seedlings in the house because they must not freeze.  In fact, they need to be around 75 degrees for the first week in order to germinate faster then maintain that temperature until time to go outside.  

My soil was outside, too, so it had to thaw out before I could fill the trays.  I had some Hyponex Potting Soil left over from last summer.  It won't last long so I will have to go looking for more soon.

The first two rows are planted with leeks--two seeds in a plug. That will be 20 plus leeks.  I can pull the extra seedlings if both seeds sprout and would have way to many leeks.  This is new seed so they will all sprout.  If anyone would like some of the extra let me know.  (I cannot just throw them away.  Too wasteful.)

After filling the plugs to overflowing I push the soil down slightly with my fingers or they will shrink down too much when wet.  Then I place two little black seeds in each plug.  It is hard to tell if they land in the right place because they disappear on the soil.  Then I cover them, 1/4 inch of soil allowing for more compacting when watered.  I don't mash them down again.

I filled the rest of the tray with other seeds even though they didn't need as much time to grow.  I planted a couple of open leaf cabbages to use as greens.  These will be transplanted outdoors when I can get to my cold frame.  They can grow in there if it freezes a little.

I also planted the eggplant and a sweet green pepper.  Even though it is early to plant these two by a month, they can be transplanted into larger pots later to await warm nights. They can grow inside until then.

I use Popsicle sticks for identification written with permanent Sharpie markers to withstand the elements. I date the marker, too, for later reference.  I used to keep a journal to record the performance of the different variety of seed in this climate.  I know which variety of seed that I like now.

I set the seed tray into a bottom tray that is filled about half way with water to soak the seeds.  It will soak up most of the water.  The extra water can be left at this point because there are no roots yet to drown.  After they have sprouted I will have to remove them from the water after they are soaked well.  When they get some leaves and strength I can water them from the top with a watering can.

I will plant more tomorrow.  Then I will have to dig out my tray covers, plant lights and something to set it up on.  My shelves have been conscripted into garage use by my husband and the lights have probably been used to replace ones that have broken ballasts in the garage.  I would have to lock them up if I wanted them to be safe.  I haven't used them for a few years so they were fair game, I suppose.  

A job for another day.  I love putting in the seed. (Robert Frost)  It is fun to play in the dirt once again.

HAPPY LITTLE SEEDS

BLOG'nGRAM

Monday--Getting Organized Day

Happy President's Day

Gotta Get Organized!  I use Mondays for planning and organization.  It is time to get out the old schedule and start again.

Organization is a personal thing.  It doesn't always work to download someones wonderful Organizational Charts unless the one you use is not working for you.  Still, this should be used as a guideline to see what works for you. Because of this constant quest to find the perfect plan, I stumbled upon a good New Year's jump start called "The Cure" on a blog that I follow called Apartment Therapy.  See at The Cure and enjoy.

I respect and admire a person who is organized and shares their knowledge with others.  However, if you are an organized personality type, you have probably already found your own niche.  If you are unorganized, then try different methods to help to get on the ball, and don't feel bad if they fail. Ya gotta find what works for you and keep tweaking it until it fits.  

With that said, I have my own organization style that I developed when I was a young wife with babies.  I picked a room for each weekday and concentrated on cleaning that room only.  Days late in the week were set aside for bathroom then the living room on the last day of the weekday so these rooms were always clean on the weekend. That plan worked great when I had a 900 sq. ft. home.

As my family grew, my homes grew, but I still kept the basic plan, moving around the house each day cleaning up the weekly messes, dusting, vacuuming, clean fingerprints, etc. Soon the children were able they shared in the cleaning. On Saturday mornings during school days, they were assigned a room with a list of basic cleaning tasks.  Help is good. The daily cleaning was put on hold and the time was used for other endeavors like laundry, shopping, menu making and bill paying. Bigger is better, but much more work.

This program, however, leaves no plan for deep cleaning.  The fallback was always the ancient ritual of Spring Cleaning.  That is a lot of work.

Now the nest is empty, I have a big home with five bedroom, three bathrooms, two family rooms, a dining room, laundry room, conservatory and no one to help.  It makes one room cleaning per day just a little impractical. "The Cure" above is a four week program that covers the house (a small apartment size house) deep cleaning most of the deep stuff. 

I was unable to start on New Year's weekend due to impending surgery, but it can be done anytime.  I tried last week, but was not quite ready for the rigorous work. (It is not that hard, but combining my exercise goals with this plan was too much.) I will try again this week.  The beginning is not overwhelming.  The plan can be started any weekend and redone as needed, like cleaning a second floor or basement.

Now that's a lot of blathering.  I am thankful for Monday.  It is a great day to start over.

HAPPY HOLIDAY


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More Joy In His Service

Deuteronomy 10: 12  And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways and to love him and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Appropriate for Valentine's Day.

And from the stick of Joseph:  Mosiah 2: 17:  And behold I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when you are in the service of your fellow beings ye  are only in the service of your God.

Enjoy your service and it will count toward you as good and bring blessings to those you serve and to yourself.

HAPPILY SERVE


BLOG'nGRAM

A Special Day

It's the day we get ready for Sunday.  (Never works out that way.)  Perhaps I will just label it the Saturday Special or maybe just Special Saturday.  That sounds a bit more accurate instead of something you might see in a grocery ad.  One day only.
  
Saturday was a busy day.  We were so fortunate to go to our grandson, Ian's cello recital.  He did a fantastic job.  He has a brilliant teacher and she has brought out the best in him.

Today is Valentine's Day Eve.  The grandchildren have all gone home now and there is not much to do--thaw out the meat for tomorrow.  I have some T-bone steaks, but that is about the sum total of our Valentine's Day celebration.  We have agreed to give no gifts, but I still would like a surprise now and then.  You get what you ask for.

This is my Valentine's Day Dress, only longer.  It was my Christmas Day Dress, too.  Maybe some year. 

Hope your Valentine's Day is everything you would love.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

BLOG'nGRAM

Banner Up

After two years, I finally finished my Valentine's Day banner.  It required some hearts attached to the burlap banner triangles.  I had figured out how to attach them so the banner would be reusable, but that was after last Valentine's Day.  

The hearts are made of the same fabrics that my Heart Quilt is made.  I had a lot of fabric leftover and never throw any usable fabric away.

They were lined with lightweight batting so they are puffy, then backed with muslin that had a large buttonhole sewn into it to turn the heart after sewing.  They are attached with stick on Velcro circles.  The Velcro may need to be sewn on eventually because it doesn't stick forever.  To make it more efficient I turned the Velcro over on every other heart.  That way when I need to put shamrocks on I won't waste 8-9 pieces of Velcro to use just one side on them.  Does that make sense?  I can turn the Velcro over on every other new attachment and place anything I want on the original burlap without wasting Velcro buttons.  Frugal--it's in my blood.

Happy Valentine's Day

HAPPY DAY

BLOG'nGRAM

Banana Oatmeal Cookies.

Today's cookie is originally a three ingredient cookie that is dairy, egg, and gluten free and low fat.  If you are allergic to any or all of these then you probably won't be able to eat them anyway because they contain nuts. The three ingredients are: bananas, peanut or other nut butter and oatmeal.  They are very plain, simple and nutritious. I had the nutrition all figured out before, but have lost it.  I will have to figure it out again.

I used almond butter this time.  It needed to be used up soon.  I also used not so overripe bananas and they taste better.

I did add an egg for more protein. No one here is allergic to eggs.  

I used the zzuzher to mix because it was out and the cold almond butter was too stiff for my hand mixer which is having issues right now--popping the breaker at the least excuse.  The mixture was very liquid because of the egg, so I added coconut flour to thicken and add flavor.  

Now unto the pan with a paper liner because they will stick due to the low amount of fat.

I forgot to smash them down (above).  They were thicker than I thought. They were starting to brown too much so I took them out of the oven at 13 minutes, but they are not quite done in the center.  

Recipe:

2 ripe bananas

2 large spoons of nut butter (2/3 to 3/4 C)

 (peanut butter, almond or cashew butter)

2 C old fashioned oats (reg oatmeal)

Optional:  

1 large egg

1/4 C coconut butter

nuts, chocolate chips, coconut--whatever

Mix together.  Scoop onto a lg cookie sheet 

lined with parchment paper, or spray well using

a large cookie scoop, flattening down dough

(will not spread).

Bake 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Makes 26.

These are good snacks that won't add a lot of sugar or fat to your diet with good carbs and protein. Add other ingredient at your own pleasure.

HAPPY BAKING

GLOG'nGRAM