Another year is about to pass...

As I sit here this morning I am pondering what the last year has brought and what the new year will bring. I feel that overall 2008 has been quite good to me and my family. First and foremost we were are blessed with our good health and well being. We have cherished the time we have spent with our family and old friends as well as the new ones that have been brought into our lives. In a year that has ended with so many in the U.S. fearing job and home loss we are thankful we have both of them. I think that everyone was pleased to get some new "toys" of their choosing due to some unexpected overtime for the Hubby.

What will the new year bring? That I can not predict but I hope that it brings with it some more of the same good things. I pray for our good health and well being to remain in tact. I try hard to remember to feed not only our bodies good things but our souls as well. I hope to actually finish some projects and learn a few new things along the way. Plus, I hope that I can do some more charitable giving of not only things but time as well. Of course is still that dreaded 40 pounds I hope to lose every year! :) Maybe this will be the year I lose it and keep it off.

Until our paths cross again I hope that the new year brings you all the joy and happiness you deserve!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May your stuffing be tasty, May your turkey be plump, May your potatoes and gravy have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious and your pies take the prize, and may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs!

I hope that you all are having a wonderful day filled with laughter and good company.

Where does the time go?

Fall came upon me so quickly with it the sweet smell of fallen leaves, now composting in my garden, and the scent of impending snow with each passing rain shower. Fall has to be one of my favorite times of the year but it seems to be passing me by all to quickly this time. I had well laid plans of making several of my holiday gifts but as I looked at the stack of fabric for my sisters quilt, which I have been planning for three months now, I realized that the time is not progressing any slower. Where has all this time flown away to? I know it hasn't all been fun or surely I would remember. Yes, there were some great times...meeting with the girls for our farmgirl gathering and dinner with trick or treating with the Pope's in October.

Then of course who could forget the history that was made on November 4th. Wow! I am so excited to be able to say that I was alive with my children to witness history. Even though I was raised in the "bible belt" of America I was fortunate to be influenced by a strong willed woman who told me to never judge a person by the color of their skin or by what their religious beliefs may be. Why was this important? That woman is my mother. A child born in the 50's and raised by parents who nearly always judge others based on those things. Time will not change others but the lessons we give our children and the next generation will change our future.

So as we get ready to celebrate during this season of thanks I know I will be thinking of the things that I find important to teach my children and remembering all that my family has taught me. I will remain thankful for those times that have been fun even if they haven't been as often as I would have liked. However, maybe most importantly, I will recall all of the rough times that we have thankfully persevered through. I believe it is how we deal with them both that shape us into the people we are to become. After all no matter what our age may be we are always evolving.

First City Chick & Friends Chapter Meeting

Well last night was my very first night hosting the City Chick & Friends Farmgirl Chapter gathering. It was great! I had such a good time visiting with Celeste and Beth that I didn't even realize it that two hours had already passed so quickly. It was amazing to hear how much we all had in common and how many things we all still felt we wanted to learn. However, I have to say one of my highlights was the beautiful gifts they brought from their farms for me. Beth brought a huge platter of Heirloom bite-sized tomatoes and Celeste a gorgeous dozen fresh eggs. You may be wondering why I say gorgeous, they are just eggs right. Well no they were not just eggs; they were an assortment of eggs from her various chickens so the colors ranged from brown and white to blue and green. So if you are reading this sisters thank you again. Not only for the wonderful goodies for but coming, inspiring and sharing yourselves with me for the evening. I can't wait to visit your farms!

What to do with all these apples

Yesterday I was trying to decide what to do with all of these apples I had around and I decided to make up some "muffins." They were really a bread but some of them I put in my jumbo muffin tins with simple white liners. They turned out amazing but guess how many apples I had to use...ONE! I would post the recipe but anyone who knows me will know that I am horrible at explaining what I have done to come up with this concoction, or any other for that matter. I truly just look at a recipe and then cook from the heart taking what I need from it and leaving the rest. Sometimes it doesn't work out but most of the time it does. Maybe you can just stop by for one next time you are going to be in the neighborhood. I am always happy to whip something up. Oh well I guess it is back to the drawing board. Maybe more pie or at least some pie filling to freeze.

Forever 29?

Well this weekend I turned 35. I had a few friends ask if was just wanting to stay forever 29. Well maybe. While I want somethings about me to remain 29 forever, or at least a while longer, there are definitely things I enjoy about being in my 30's. Age is just a number anyway!

So while this past weekend I did celebrate what my friends felt was a mile stone in life I had a great time. My honey and daughter took me to the areas Apple Jack Festival in Nebraska City. Where we joined by my good friend Arlene and her family. It was great. The weather was beautiful and it was so nice to be able to just be outdoors visiting with good friends. I was able to come back with 3 big bags of apples fresh from the orchards.

My daughter was sweet enough to make me a pie out of some of them. I do think she was pleased when she discovered that the old apple peeler and corer I had up in the cabinet actually worked; once I showed her how. It saved her a lot of prep time. Oh, by the way Donovan wasn't with us because he was spending his time at his first ever Boy Scout camp outing. Which was probably best because he would have been bored with us. That boy loves to go junking and antiquing with me, but crafts are definitely not his thing.

The Riches & Treasures of Home

I always receive a wonderful newsletter filled with a wealth of great information from the Urban Homemaker. However, when I saw this lovely book I knew I just had to share a preview of it with the rest of my farmgirl sisters!

I am sure you will agree, after browsing a few sample pages below, that Kari’s book does a splendid job of blending the beautiful and elegant with a sumptuous coziness and charm. As a lover of “old-fashioned skills” and anything home oriented this book makes my heart go a flutter!

The Riches and Treasures of Home is an old fashioned book filled with warm recollections and fond remembrances, and overflows with the quaint customs and lovely old rituals of the 19th century. Recalling an extraordinary time and place, the book takes the reader on an enchanting journey that brings the gentility of the past into the present, and allows all revel in the prim formalities that made it such a glorious affair.

Kari’s book is sure to become a cherished keepsake by those with a contemplative spirit and an affinity for things of old. Her book is a sweet compendium overflowing with historical imagery and Victorian ephemera (old fashioned illustrations) in full and vibrant display, and nurtures a love of home and a delight in all things lovely.

Author Kari Wisdom has captured everything imaginable about the timeless art of homemaking with colorful Victorian illustrations. This book contains 12 chapters including The Old Time Kitchen, The Old-Fashioned Parlor, Letter Writing and Correspondence, The Linen Cupboard, The Powder Room, The Stitching Room, The Old Fashioned Nursery, The Old Fashioned Garden and much more! For any home lover the recipes alone will captivate you.

You can preorder a copy of the book by September 19th for just $34.95 with free shipping including 4 free e-books. The bonuses and free shipping ends Friday!

Portions of this were reprinted with permission.

You may subscribe to From the Heart of The Urban Homemaker at http://www.urbanhomemaker.com/subscriptions or call us at 1-800-552-7323

Invitations have left the home!

This past week I finished preparing the invitations for my new MaryJane's Farmgirl Chapter. I sent invites to join City Chick & Friends to a couple good friends I already knew and a to a few gals I hope to get to know better. They went out in Saturdays post so I should start hearing from the girls soon! I want to say thanks to Jen Bove for encouraging me to get my own group started. Without your supportive e-mails in the early stages of this I may not have had the courage to take this on.

My how time flies by...

Well time seems to be passing me by much too quickly lately. It isn't because I had so many projects or other commitments going on. At least it didn't seem like it at the time. However, I think that things are finally starting to get back to normal around here.

I was thrilled with a couple things this past month that I just want to share. The first one is that I was able to pick up a great little set of 3 old theater seats for free! I nice guy on craigslist just didn't have room for them and because they had some water damage he didn't want them any longer. So I was quick to go get them and put them on my porch.

The next one was a truly delightful little packaged up surprise. I had helped out a fellow farmgirl in Washington. She desperately needed some yarn and was unable to locate any near her. So I was able to find her 2 skeins at my local Hobby Lobby. On clearance no less. When she sent the funds to reimburse me for yarn she included a lovely apron. I was so surprised! So thanks again Sherri! I absolutely love it and will treasure it.

Do you know or care what you eat??

I know that so many of us out there are trying to switch from our normal standard of food to the organic lifestyle. I know it is not easy. Even for me and my family but I do know that I will continue to try my best. Even if it means I bake my own home made bread and cakes from scratch. I did want to share this little bit of information with you all though because shopping for True Food is not so easy these days. When you buy organic you are guaranteed that you are not eating genetically engineered (GE) food. However, with the increasing amount of GE food out there it can be trick and the labels can be deceptive. So if you are curious or just flat out want to know what you are buying the great folks at Tue Food Now! have written a handy printable shopping list.

You can download it here http://www.truefoodnow.org/shoppersguide/guide_printable.html

Teaching Jade to sew?!?!

So this week has been full of excitement for me. My daughter finally decided that she wanted to learn to sew! She had been talking about it for about a month now so a couple of weeks ago I bought her a used Singer off of craigslist. Mainly because I keep mine set up for quilting. I suppose I could have shared but why when a practically new machine could be purchased for $30. Plus, then we can sit and so side by side. Well that was my hope anyway. After spending a week with her picking out just the right fabric and a super easy pattern we were ready to start. To make a long story short...We finished the shorts. She didn't realize how long it would take. I reminded her that this was only her first project and she chose a satin fabric. Which I always find difficult to work with. She also has been blessed and cursed with my lack of ability to correctly follow the recommended pattern directions. So seeing her modify something is going to be a challenging blast! I can't wait!

Weekend Bargains!

Here are some pictures of weekend bargains. I purchased them at the best little "general" store called Prairie Piecegoods. I actually know the owner and her husband so I always like to go down for a little visit. There is always plenty of vintage items to be found and the prices are always so cheap. I can't hardly wait until they open their antique store, which will be right across the street!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Yesterday Jade and I made the most scrumptious cake. I know at first thought some of you may be thinking "chocolate and zucchini?...I don't think so!" but trust me when I say this is a great little cake. It turned out so rich and chocolaty. Of course I think it would have been just as good without frosting but Jade insisted I make some chocolate buttercream for it.
Here is the recipe just in case any of you would like to try it!


Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups sifted naturally white flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups unpeeled grated zucchini
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8-inch round cake pans. Beat together sugar, butter and oil in a large mixing bowl until blended well. Add eggs to the mixture one at a time, being sure to beat well after each one. Add the vanilla. While you are mixing the ingredients together sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Once all of the wet ingredients, except the buttermilk, are incorporated start mixing in the dry ingredients alternating between the dry and the buttermilk. Mix in the grated zucchini. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Sprinkle the chocolate chips and nuts over the top of each pan.

Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. It took ours about 40 minutes.

Stawberry Babies

I was blessed to receive in the mail this week a package of little baby strawberry plants from a sister Farmgirl in Idaho. Lisa Marie had gone to all of the trouble to ever so carefully wrap up the little bundles of crowns in wet paper towels and plastic wrap. All in the hopes that they would survive their 3 day journey. Well when they arrived one bundle looked as though it had just been picked and the rest were a little worn from the journey; but after soaking them overnight in a bit of fresh water the crown looked great. I am afraid the weather is way too hot right now for them to be outside. So I "planted" them in an old enamelware roaster filled with organic compost and that is where they will spend the next several weeks indoors where they can be monitored and cared for on top of the fireplace mantle . I have never grown strawberries before but I have high hopes for these little babies. I can't hardly wait till I can harvest fresh berries for jam! Thanks again Lisa Marie.

Caterpillars in the gardens...

While I was out watering in the garden yesterday I happened upon this huge green caterpillar on my tomato plant. Not knowing what was stuck/suctioned all over it I broke off the branch it was located it on and moved it to another area. After doing a bit of research I found out something interesting. The little white things suctioned to my green caterpillar are actually wasps!! Here is a link to see what I found out. http://goodbugpage.com/wonderful_wasps1.htm.

The other little caterpillars in my southside flower bed have been hard at work eating the plants that were specially planted for them. These plants were given to me so I am not quite sure what they are; but I was guarenteed that they would bring me some butterflies.

My Weekend Bargin!!

A gorgeous Singer Treadle. I did a little research on the Singer website and found out she is a model 66 made in 1914. She came with all of the original attachments and accessories which you can see in the picture. I really had to bargain with the gal because she wanted way over what I was able to spend. However, she desperately wanted to go on a vacation this year so I talked her down to less than half of what she originally wanted. I assured her that this little beauty would be going to a good home where she would be loved and cared for. So in the end I think that made her happy. I had to swing by the sewing store on the way home for a thread spindle and the guy told me that if he were to estimate a cost on replacing it that I walked away with a steal. It would be worth over 3 times what I paid for it! Now I just need to get busy learning how to use it.

Has it has been a month already?

Wow I can't believe it has been almost a month since I posted last. I always have good intentions of posting though.



I did make some amazing cookies last week after tweaking a recipe. They started out as basic oatmeal raisin which Todd and Donovan love. However, Jade and I don't care for raisins in our cookies so I took half of the basic dough and added craisins and white chocolate to ours. Yummy! I made them "monster" sized and I couldn't believe how moist they stayed for the three days that they lasted. They have quickly become one of our new favorites!




I stitched up this cute little pin cushion! I have to admit the pattern needed some adjustments so my first one definitely did not look this good. I am fairly new to all this sewing stuff so thankfully I can usually figure it out. Needless to say the first one looked more like a deflated cupcake. My daughter made the delightful little gift box that is in the picture. It is hard to see but the top of it is covered in what appears to be sugar crystal.


I have been using my homemade laundry soap exclusively now for almost a month! I must say that it really is working great. Our clothes look and feel much cleaner and crisper than they did with my old laundry detergent. The crispness could also be due to the fact that I have been hanging almost everything out on the clothes line. Either way I love it so I will be sticking with it from here on out!

Whipped up a batch...

Well this past week seemed to go by so quickly but I did get at least one thing done that I had been hoping to, amongst all of the errands I had to run. The kiddos and I whipped up a batch of laundry soap. Why you ask? Well because it is non-toxic which makes it way better for us and our environment. As well as it was just one more step for us in our quest of trying to go green. I have actually washed several loads of laundry with our new soap and it is working great. Plus, to keep our towels soft I just add a bit of white vinegar to the softener tray. No, they do not have a vinegar smell left in them. So if you are interested in making your own laundry soap just let me know! Someone wanted to know how my clothespin bag turned out a couple weeks ago so here it is. It works great which I knew it would. It is MaryJane's pattern after all!

Mystery Bag Challenge

Ahh, the Mystery Bag Challenge from the Country Sampler.
It all started a few months back when with a little reluctance I decide I would pick up my mystery sack. I honestly swear that I had that little brown sack of fabric for 2 months before I decided what to make out of it. I thought to myself and a few others "what the hell did I get myself into?" Every time I would look at the fabric I was clueless. After all I just started quilting about six months ago. One day though about a week and a half before the quilt was due to be turned in it came to me. I would make a Crazy Curve quilt. I ran to the Sampler and picked up the book and templates that I needed as well as the remaining fabric. Can you believe that I was able to get it all done? Well if it had not been for Sally and Lori, my wonderful instructors for the beginning quilt class I took there, it would have not been possible. I worked around the clock to get that sucker done. My family is lucky that they are self-reliant and can cook for themselves! Otherwise they may have starved. I was surprisingly and luckily able to get my quilt finished with so little time. The wonderful gals at Country Sampler even managed to get the machine quilting done for me. I was even able to turn it in with a day or two to spare.
On June 9th they announced the winners. The picture is of me and my 3rd place quilt!! Heck yeah...I deserve those 5 free yards of fabric. Even if I hadn't won though it was totally worth it. My daughter had told me when I started this quilt "to go big or go home" which is something I tell her when she is challenged to do something. Well I think she was mighty impressed and that is what mattered most in my book.

16 years and going strong...

Can you believe it? Yesterday Todd and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary! I know when we were married that many had their doubts that it would ever last. They said we were too young; but what did they know. I am not saying it has been the easiest thing either of us have ever done in our lives but I think that we both agree that we wouldn't change a thing.

How have we managed to do it? We learned that we had to put each other first and foremost very early on. Only our two children have slots that walk side by side with us. One day new slots will open for the families they build. Until that day arrives we will continue to remain loyal only to each other and our family above all others. We have also learned to pick & chose our battles wisely. We basically decided that really there is nothing worth battling over. We just sometimes have to agree to disagree.

I was lucky to have found my soul mate so soon in life. Many people spend a lifetime searching for mister right. I hope when we reach the 50 year mark we can still say that we are madly in love with one another. I know I will keep working everyday to make sure it happens.

'Coons... Friend or Foe

Well this has been one hell of a week so far. It all started with me watching my insane husbands quest to capture one of the menacing raccoons that reside in our front tree. We were told last week by our local extension office that if we trapped them ourselves that we could call the humane society and they would come and pick them up and euthanize them. Now for all you do-gooders and animal lovers out there you have to understand that while yes these 'coons may be cute, little masked bandits they have to go. In fact they WILL be banished because not only will they ruin my lovely garden crops that my family and I have worked so hard to put in. They deter me from being able to get a nice little flock of chickens. Any way back on the subject...So my husband was able able to capture one of the babies. Of course I was screaming when the mama 'coon came barreling out of the tree after them both. Once everyone (my husband) was safely contained in their place I went in to call the humane society. They said they would send someone right away. I hung up the phone happy to be rid of this 'coon only to have the humane society guy show up and inform me that last week they changed the rule and he could only release the little varmint 100 feet from the capture site. I must say that I am hoping that the mama got lost looking for that baby or moved out of my tree at the very least; because I haven't seen her around since Sunday morning! They maybe cute but this City Chick is considering this varmint a foe.