Monday, September 20, 2010

A Tribute to Beth


One of our own knitters has passed tragically. At 42 years old, she collapsed suddenly with a pulmonary embolism and died. This loss of our friend is hard to accept--someone who was so young and full of life and love is suddenly gone.

I will miss her happy friendliness and calm demeanor. She was so creative, and constantly inspired me with her productivity!

Goodbye sweet knitter, you leave behind a lot of hearts that miss you already.



Saturday, September 18, 2010

WhatEvah.Com

Yum!



Lovin' the cheapness of real food! Timeconsuming, yes, but so good for you! And I love to learn ethnic cuisine....

Not much in the way of knitting or crochet going on here. I have been sick this week, and last week I was busy doing yard work. Gotta get it done while the cool weather lasts!

Interesting Podcasts: I have yet to hear one of these Amish Wisdom podcasts, but the author Suzanne Fischer is one of my favs. I read her book "Amish Peace, Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World" and it has made a change in my Christian walk. Fascinating reading about Amish ways and beliefs. I highly recommend it.

I'm loving my new car! I think I am going to rent the movie "The Italian Job," I heard it has a lot of stunt-driving with Mini-Coopers!!! I've never been excited about a car in my life until now!

It's rainy here, so cozy indoor housework is on. Think I will bake some cookies, and make sausage pasta for dinner, with some Chardonnay...I'll save the Indian food for another time!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

MidLife Crisis Relief

Heh.

I am so excited! G-bye Camry, I've loved you....




Sunday, September 12, 2010

Ways to Save and Happy Bday!



Lots of things to do...but I am happy to tell you what I'm up to: trying to trim the outflow of cash. Here are my thoughts:

Been shopping for a car, I promised DD I'd sell her my Camry. I am socking away some money for my "new car," but I'll have to get financing, it looks like. So much for getting out of debt! But on the bright side, the checkbook is balanced and budgeting is a WIP.

I may look for a new cellphone policy. Fifty dollars a month seems a bit much....

Gonna start using coupons when I shop, and surveying the ads before I go to the store. One of the girls I work with is the queen of this and inspires me to get back on track.

Knitting related savings: my goal is to make something from each knitting book I own. I have quite a few books, but that goal makes me happy. And reminds me to refrain from more shopping....

I am starting to use the public library more frequently, instead of popping into the bookstore. I don't need more stuff cluttering up my house.

As much as I've talked in the past about walking to work to save on gas, it hasn't yet happened. I love to come home at lunch for a nap or to sit on my patio, and I'd have to give that up if I walked. So that has yet to become a reality.

I need to find an antenna I can hook up to my TV; I only ever watch the local news in the AM while getting ready for work. Don't need to pay the satellite service for that! (Except it's football season and I do like the NFL! Go Bears!)

Not much to look at, but we just put in shelves. This closet has been without shelves or rod for 18 years, piles of crap on the floor of the closet. I can now happily store the stash there, woohoo! Cost of shelves: 11.81! They still need paint, but I'm just so happy to put stuff in there I don't care right now! I have bead curtains I got on clearance at Target a couple years ago for the door of the closet. I'll show ya when it's done!

I am going to propagate some plants from my garden too, so I don't have to buy more. I have lots of perennials that really should be divided if I want to keep them going. And I am setting up my cold-frame in another week, to start some salad greens for the fall. Looking forward to that kind of gardening!

Are you all doing anything new to save money? If I had time I'd try my own canning, and I'd love to make my own soap, but there's an initial outlay of $$ that I can't afford right now. Maybe for Christmas...

HAPPY BDAY TIMMY-TIMS!

Love, Mom

Sunday, September 5, 2010

The First Day of the Rest of My Life



So looking on the sunny side...the past week is over, in which I had a root canal and DH moved out. The weather is absolutely gorgeous right now, and I am a child of God, and His Love for me is all I need. The world does not stop turning for my personal crises, and "My God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory." (Philippians 4:19) I am hanging all my hopes on His promises.

I had a really nice day yesterday, DD came over and we went to the farmer's market, bought some produce, came home and made a stir-fry. We didn't think about rice or noodles to eat it with until it was nearly done cooking, so we just made some couscous (5 minutes!) It was a great mix of potato, eggplant, yellow bell pepper, summer squash, cabbage, onion, garlic--all from the market. We sautee'd it in ghee. For flavor, cumin powder, tamari sauce, salt&pepper, and plum sauce. YUM! It tasted wonderful. Oh, and I was S.T.A.R.V.I.N.G so I nuked an ear of sweet corn in the microwave and nibbled on it while we cooked.

I Love to make corn-on-the-cob in the microwave, and, living in the heart of the midwest, we have the tastiest sweetcorn around! About 10 or 15 years ago, I stopped putting butter or salt/pepper on it, I just eat it plain now, it is so delicious on it's own! To make corn-on-the-cob in the microwave, you just peel back the husks but leave most of them attached at the bottom to the cob, take off the cornsilk, and fold the husks back over the cob. Then microwave it on high for 3-1/2 minutes, fold back the husks for a handle (which you have to wrap with a towel or papertowel due to how hot it is) and eat!

After DD left, DS mowed the entire property for me AND washed the dishes--what would I do without such great kids?! I had a bunch of errands to run, but also went to the library and found some really swell books:

Can't wait to crack into these! Kristin Omdahl is one of my fav designers....

Late afternoon I finally got around to my long-neglected garden. (This summer's awful heat had me hiding indoors 90% of the time. My garden had to fend for itself this year.) I prepped a weedy patch of lawn alongside our patio for a new flower bed, which was initially going to be small, but now the plans have expanded (!) Then I transplanted several of my beautiful peonies to that site, and used the Up Start transplant liquid with Vitamin B1 from Ortho to water them in. Hope they're not too stunned by the move!

After that, I was tired! I went inside and had a Madras cocktail, then took the pup for a long drawn out walk in the late evening sun. What a great day!!! I had also squeezed in time to start one of my novels from the library while laying in the nice warm sun in "the back 40."

I LOVE AUTUMN! I can feel it in the air, the trees are just beginning to turn some of their leaves, the geese are on the move overhead, and I can work in the garden without getting overcome by heat! Wooot!

Today, more planting is planned, but I am also going to church to see Michael W. Smith perform this morning. And I really want some time to work on doilies, so I'll probably set up in the sun to do so later.

Here's wishing everyone the life that God has in mind for you!

In Christ,