Woodland Finds

Whatever could have caused this?

Hop over and see what you think!

Woodland Finds

Sorry for the short cuts this week.  

I thought I'd put up some woodland posts with our short stretch of good weather.

Tornado threats the next two days as a result of our 76 degree temps today,

a far cry from the ice we had on Sunday!

We battened down the greenhouse so we'll see how it does, hopefully well,

unless a tree comes down on it.

Woodland Cats

Come and meet the cats:

Woodland Cat Post

Ham Fest ?

My husband asked me if I wanted to go to Ham Fest with him.

I thought I'd see a lot of this.

But what I got was . . .

scroll

down.

Get 

Ready 

for 

it 

this  (no, not my car)

It was Winterfest, for ham radio operators,

at the Gateway Convention Center 

in Collinsville, IL which is 

just over the river from St. Louis.

There were lots of tables full of gear,

lots of meters

and tube testers

and radios, new and vintage.

There were shirts (crazy hams!)

I LOVED this- 

too bad it didn't fit.

I wanted a "Frank" shirt for my gardening chores.

How cool is that!  LOL

(really, I wanted this, they were auto shop extras)

After an exhilarating morning, we made our way back home,

across the river,

through the city,

and into town so we could pick up a few things. 

On the way I saw the sort of ham fest

 I was thought we were attending.

Lucky dogs!

photo credit of hams

Girls and Bonfires

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

The sun was shining and warmth blanketed the ridge

as the girls ran back and forth between each other's homes.

"Where are the girls?" I asked my husband.

"They're up near the garden playing bonfire," replied my husband.

They were gathering sticks and twigs and placing them in the fire pit.

Soon, my granddaughter ran down to the house completely out of breath.

"Where are the matches?"

WHAT ?!

"GIRLS, get down here," said my husband,

"If you want a fire we'll make one in the pit on the courtyard.

Go get sticks!"

Soon they gathered sticks, twigs and logs, 

and we had the start of a fire.

People began pulling up lawn chairs, 

kids played flashlight tag but sadly, 

I was out of marshmallows!

I picked some dead flower foliage from the garden wall

thinking that I'd just burn them while we had the fire going.

Granddaughter, Taylor, took advantage of the situation,

her impression of a zombie bride!

The next morning, this was all that was left.

A solitary log.

Here is a photo of the dressing table we refinished for her.

I still have to make the dresser scarf and a cushion for her chair.

The dresser is also in place and she's pretty excited about her new arrangement. 

Now we've got to figure out what to do with her little girl stuff, 

which is up to her mother, but it will be leaving my place!

Linking to Country Garden Showcase

Our New House - Greenhouse That Is

I inherited a greenhouse.

My brother & sister-in-law decided to set sail

and move onto a yacht down in Daytona Beach FL

which, although very large, really doesn't lend 

itself to a greenhouse, 

especially when there is fresh crab to be eaten on demand. 

We selected a site by the garden for now.

Erected the sturdy frame.

Added the plastic covering

and rolled up the doors and windows

to let the air through until we are ready to use it.

It will get very good morning sun and then 

hopefully protect the plants from the stronger

afternoon sun once the temperatures warm up.

They had it for several years so there are some

repairs to be made around the zippered doors.

I think I'll get velcro and go around the entire opening, 

then put new plastic on the ends.  I believe JoAnn's 

has material suitable for this. 

Tom is going to make whatever shelving I need

and is even thinking about using the frame

to build something more permanent

once we determine where the best location is.

Now I'll need to read up on what to do and when to start 

planting for zone 5/6  (St Louis outskirts).

Suggestions are welcome!

Linking to Country Garden Showcase

Winging It - Grab and Go Meal Deals

A blogger posed a question on Facebook-

Do you plan your meals

or Wing it?

My response- Wing it-

But let me qualify that statement.

(photo above, pork butts after the smoker)

(After slow cooking all night preparing it for pulling)

We look for really good deals on meat.

Not only do we purchase a hog and process it ourselves,

we watch for grocery specials such as these pork butts.

Yes, we like pork a lot.

At $1.00 per pound, we purchased two good sized butts.

Then my husband smoked them,

we pulled them and vacuum sealed in 1.5 lb packets

so we can just pull out what we need for one meal.

Add some BBQ sauce and sides for a quick meal

or plop it on a bun  and have with your favorite chips.

We do the same with deer, chicken

and a smaller amount of beef.

So, not quite planned, 

but not quite Winging It!

Definitely Grab and Go.

Today's purchase

Chicken Breast $0.99 per pound, purchased 2 packages (limit)

Pork butt $0.99 per pound, one additional package for the freezer.

Muffin mixes $1.00 each

Three frozen  (specialty) pizzas $4.00 each**

Large loaf of white bread $0.99

As a treat- ice cream bars.

Total cents off savings (no coupons)  $36.26

Our freezer with the 1.5 lb packets.

** we make our own pizza very similar to this specialty pizza, 

cracker thin crust with provel cheese (a St Louis creation).  The cost per pizza is about $8-10 for us to make it. Expensive but our pizza is pizza parlor quality.  When we find a similar quality pizza on sale at $4, we can't  pass it up!

Cheesy Basil Fritatta Recipe

Another absolutely fantastic, delicious recipe, one  full of 

eggs, potatoes, cheese and herbs, 

compliments of my husband- the cook at our place.

Having too many eggs recently?
Not only are we freezing them for future use, 

but also searching out high egg content recipes.

And why not take advantage of all those freshly laid eggs

since raising those chickens is costing a pretty penny these days?

As a side note- see the celery floating in the canning jar?

It's growing! It's about 1 1/2 inches high now.

And the eggs- lots of them every day, 

even with temperatures in the low teens!

Well- back to the recipe.

12 eggs- lightly whisked but not beaten

Yellow potatoes, sliced- enough to cover the bottom of a 10 inch oven safe skillet

    (we use All Clad)

2 TBL dried onions (or chopped fresh)

1/2 stick of butter

1/4 C milk

1 TBL basil

1/2 C shredded mozzarella cheese- use your judgement for amt.

1/2 C cheddar cheese- sliced or shredded- use your judgement for amt.

salt

pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F

On Stove Top

Fry sliced potatoes in butter using the 10 inch oven safe skillet.

Salt and pepper to taste as cooking.

Line bottom of skillet with potatoes.

Prepare Egg Mixture

Whisk eggs in bowl until mixed but not beaten

Add mozzerella

Add milk, onions and basil

(If using fresh onions, cook until tender and add to egg mixture)

Set aside until potatoes are done

.

Add egg mixture on top of the fried potatoes in skillet.

Cook over medium heat until the bottom of the mixture seems firm.

In Oven (for this recipe we used the regular oven, not convection)

Add cheddar cheese to top of egg and potato mixture

Transfer skillet to preheated oven.

Cook for 20-25 minutes- checking progress occasionally

Once the mixture has puffed up, remove from oven

Slice.

The only thing that could have made it better was adding bacon- but that goes without saying, doesn't it!

Free Reading Material

Here is my super frugal post of the month-

Free Reading Material

In one day I collected 9 free publications.  Actually there were more but these were the ones I was interested in.  You can see some gardening magazines, some municipality news, restaurant reviews, recipes, society news, things to do and "green" magazines.  

Since we don't get into town very often, these magazines give us a little peek into what's going on 

or where we can find products not available in our area. 

All Free.

All can be either recycled, repurposed or composted.

And I didn't even buy a thing.

Except for some garden seeds- how could I pass those up?

Pfaff in for Servicing

I have thread wrapped around my take up lever!

Maroon thread, something that I haven't used for a year

and now the poor baby won't sew.

It will be two weeks until I get it back.

What do I do about my block of the month?!

Oh oh.

We purchased this years ago for $500

including the sewing table

and the embroidery attachments.

You can program your own designs but it's 

old school, not the fancy new stuff.

It also has pre-programmed settings.

Someone traded it in and the dealer didn't carry Pfaffs.

They just wanted it out of the showroom

and we arrived at the right time.

I went up to the attic and retrieved my mom's old machine.

Except mom says it wasn't hers ?????

It may be one of my grandmothers, but it looks a lot like Mom's.

It's a Singer 413 zig zag, pretty old but not sure what year.

It might be from the 70s?

I found the manual on line and downloaded it.

I was a little fuzzy on how to thread it.

Now I'm not complaining. . .

Really?  Who do I think I'm kidding-

I'm complaining, although I should not be, 

this is a blessing.

But apparently I've been sewing on a Cadillac.

This is just not the same.

I'm sure it's a matter of getting used to it.

But for my more complicated BOM, I think I'll wait the two weeks.

The Amish quilt uses thicker matial so it may work better.

I am trying to get tensions set and stitch length right.

The knob, which is also reverse, was stuck 

but I have it moving now, which helps.

I will say bobbin threading and insertion is easier on the Singer!

Another plus, my husband dropped my Pfaff off for me 

and spent some time with the repairman.

He showed him how I need to set the machine 

to free motion quilt!

Now I just have wait the two weeks.

Photo credit for Pfaff

Linking to The Country Homemaker Hop

Garden Seeds and Catalogues

It's that time!  Seed catalogs and garden planning, 

rearranging where everything will be placed

and for me- setting up our inherited green house!

Yipee!

My brother and sister-in-law have moved onto a boat.

Yep, a boat.

A really, really big boat down in Florida.

I got the greenhouse because it was just not practical

to have it on the back deck of the boat.

So, now it's a matter of where to put it 

and getting it set up and making growing areas in it.

As you can see, I have some seeds already, 

plus some seeds I saved from last season's blooms.

Now I'm starting to collect the seed catalogs.

I really like paper copies. 

I may order on-line, or buy the same seed locally, or both.

Mainly heirloom, in fact always where an heirloom variety is available.

Sometimes I start with plants if I see something special at the garden center

but again, I try to select heirlooms where an heirloom variety exists.

But I love having the copies to carry around or pick up again and again.

I'm still waiting for Baker's Creek but I have looked on-line.  

We're actually close enough to get there and back in a day

if we start early, get back late and don't dilly-dally.

It's so nice planning the garden when all around you is cold and frozen.

Linking to the Country Homemaker Hop

Likkered Up At Work?

What? 

Drinking at Work?

Well . . . . .almost.

It was a mistake --- really!

OK- two things:

1) I wear distance and computer glasses but not to read up close

2) Sometimes--sometimes--I don't read labels

Over the Christmas break my Mom, who was visiting from Arkansas, and I went shopping at a local grocery store as we always do when she visits.  She likes to pick up some products that she can't get at home.  As we walked up and down the aisles there were special displays featuring value priced items and I thought it might be fun to try some of those iced coffee drinks.

I am a regular (hot with sugar and creamer) coffee drinker.  

I've never had one of those packaged coffee drinks before.

And there was a whole display of them, really cheap.

We'll try them!

But we never got around to it.

So I decided to take mine to work.

I got it nice and chilled in the fridge.

I drove to work and put my lunch away, pulled out the coffee drink,

and began walking to my desk.

Now, I had my distance glasses on since I had been driving.

I can't read close up with those glasses but I did notice something strange.

Why can't pregnant women drink this coffee?

Boy, they sure are getting strict with what pregnant women can have.

I looked a little closer at the warning.

WHAT alcoholic beverages?

Oh . . . .MY!

I am walking to my desk at 6:45 AM with a drink in my hand!

I start laughing and can't stop  

(Fortunately, I had not even opened it )

My co-workers are looking at me and I can barely speak.

When I explain what I just did, they told me 

there's probably just a drop of alcohol in the flavoring.

So one of the girls looks.

5% alcohol.

I'm drinking "a beer"

At 6:45 AM, and I'm not even fishing!

I had NO idea.

I thought it was Kahlua FLAVORED!

The manager (not mine) comes over to see the drink.

He's laughing.

He said- Did I over look Coffee Liqueur on the label?

Or perhaps 5% alcohol content?

No, I just couldn't read it.

I can't read anything close with my distance glasses!

And it was in the COFFEE AISLE, not the liquor aisle.

Right there next to the Maxwell House and Folgers.

Who would have guessed?

I tell him- What if I would have brought this for a food day?

Everyone would have wondered why our department was so Happy!

You know what's worse?

I sent Mom's home with her- 

she was driving.

I hope she reads labels! 

Another Pinky Scrappy Mat

A Scrappy Mat

It even comes with directions- 

Place object HERE --><--

I had fun with this one, placing the lines next to the quarter square triangles.

Then I had this green spotty strip that I thought might look interesting with the other colors.

I'm backing it with a variegated orange,

I'm not sure what to do with the quilting,

at least I can play around with it on my machine since it's small.

I'd like to do something that would keep the direction going in the pattern

but I don't have a machine that will allow me to completely 

free motion quilt.  And I'm not experienced at all in the quilting part.

Suggestions are welcomed!!

Linking to Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Corner Blocks- Stretching Problem

I am still working on my original Block of the Month,

this one is Tonga Back to Nature

with fabrics from Timeless Treasures.

I am struggling with the smaller blocks stretching,

even though I am Best Pressing

the heck out of them.

Any suggestions?

This is one of the corner blocks.

(there will be 1/4 inch seams around the edge to eliminate

the hanging green parts)

The entire quilt is pictured below.

This is the center block,  I have since added the border to it.

I've completed all the other blocks 

so after I finish the other three corners

I'll be ready to work on the log cabin pieces next to them

which scares me even more.

They recommend some sort of fabric tape so it won't stretch.

Then there are the hundreds of flying geese.

Wing and A Prayer Design

Linking to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday

and My Simple Country Living Country Homemaker Hop

Turkeys In the Garden

We had visitors today in our little side garden.

They are huge!

This is where we grow the lettuce and radishes.

My husband quickly took this photo out our window.

Turkeys have exceptional hearing and vision so

it's very difficult to get a good shot when you have to open the door.

Some of you may have read about them visiting our chickens.

This photo was from the other day and posted at this blog

  

I ran upstairs to the top porch, hoping to sneak up on them, but no luck. 

 As soon as I unlatched and pushed open the screen door,

they heard the "pop" and saw me, even on the second floor.

Then they scattered:

Into the woods and over the brush pile.

They will be back,

every day the make the same journey,

scavenging in the garden areas and visiting chicks

who just may have kicked some grain outside of their fencing.

Linking to Country Garden Showcase

The Girl Makes the Soup

A little chicken soup is a good thing,

made by an 8 yr old is even better!

Especially if it's full of dumplings in the end.

She hates regular canned chicken soup,

and hates onions

and peas.

But loves them in the chicken and dumplings

because it's homemade

and tastes like real food.

Pops is the cook around here

and Taylor had her first lesson:

 proper knife handling,

onion peeling and slicing

chopping the celery

and putting them in the pot properly

so they don't splash hot water all over the place.

In the pot they went with the chicken, 

cooking for hours until it was time to

strain everything out.

It was a family affair

I picked the meat off the chicken bones,

and Pops added fresh vegetables

and made the dumplings.

For a girl that doesn't like canned chicken soup, she had two helpings!

By summer he'll be teaching her the art of Bar-b-Que.

It's a good thing, I never learned to cook when I was young

and while I might be able to cook basic things now, 

I'm terrible at meal planning (so it all is done at the same time)

In fact, you'd better like to eat in courses with me at the helm.

How old were you when you were taught to cook?