Menu Monday

Off and on this week I will be working on getting things done in preparation for the winter. Canning, drying, and just nesting are top of the list. This means menus could change depending on how busy I become.

Monday

Grilled Pork Chops, Creamed Potatoes, and the leftover sliced veggies from yesterday.

Tuesday

Moussaka.

Wednesday

Tuna Casserole.

Thursday

Grilled Smoked Sausage, rice, a salad, and corn.

Friday

What Mom called Glace and Eggs, I call German Noodles.

Saturday

Chili and toast.

Sunday

Roast Chicken (I ended up doing the roast beef yesterday instead of the chicken) potatoes, beets, and perhaps a salad.

Lunches will be the usual leftovers or toast or a sandwich.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

After Mass today I quickly changed and headed out to the garden.

Harvest has begun in earnest on the old homestead. Today was getting together all those ingredients to make my MIL's relish recipe. The last jar of what I made two years ago is almost gone and Harvey just loves this. I enjoy making it as with some of the recipes I make that have been handed down from my Mother I feel an attachment to the older generation of family.


So I picked cucumbers...

Green tomatoes......

Green and red peppers (only got a picture of the green ones for some reason)....

 and some onions (which I did not get a picture of at all).

After a bit of time standing over the food processor (veggies washed and cut in chunks first), this is what I ended up with.

My large roaster full of the processed veggies. This was mixed with a bit of coarse salt and will sit overnight on my counter. Tomorrow morning I will drain off the liquid and start making this into lovely relish for the next few years.

We didn't stop at picking things there.

Harvey picked what remained of the kohlrabi.

Which after a bit of work became this.

Four packages of blanched kohlrabi which is residing in the freezer downstairs.

I also picked some zucchini and eggplant.

The oddly shaped zucchini was shredded and put in bags and in the freezer. The eggplant will be used this upcoming week to make a lovely meal.

This large zucchini was also shredded. I did not however put this one into the pot for freezing. Instead it resides in the fridge where it will hopefully over the next few days be made into loaves, cake and some muffins.

I think I may be fairly busy for the next little while!!!

I am a bit upset with blogger right now. The posts on my blog list are not always updating. I hope I don't miss any of your new posts, but if I do I will catch up with them. At least I hope so!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Well Organized Shelves

Today dawned with clouds, and with the clouds the rain finally came. We received 4/10ths of an inch, which really isn't much, but at least we finally got some rain and slightly cooler temperatures.

Since it rained until the middle of the afternoon I had lots of time to remove the clutter and organize things on the shelves of the computer desk.

This is what the shelves look like now.

I managed to rid us of all the old disks from computers we no longer have.... One set of discs were from the very first computer we ever had. That computer was gotten rid of long ago, probably 20 years ago.

The same can be said for all the manuals and such that went with programs we no longer use. So nice to have room for new software. There are a few CD's that I still need to check out before I know what to do with them.

Now this is the really messy side. I now have binders containing all those loose receipts, bank statements, paid bills and such. Lots of papers and out of date items have now been tossed. I still have a bit of work to do on this side. I need a couple more binders set up for maintenance on our vehicles, and my pay stubs as a sub. Perhaps another for a group of items that I really have no idea what to do with. Once that is done things will really begin to look organized.

Still working on the sewing/craft room, but it is slowly but surely taking shape. I will share pictures once I have everything completed.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Another hot day today. I know August is usually one of our hottest months of the year, but day after day of temperatures reaching the mid 30's C is just crazy. In fact after a rainy start to the summer many of us are wishing for some rain to cool things off. We really haven't gotten much over the past two and a half weeks, everything is browning from grass to trees. Some of the poplars in the valley are already changing colour!!!

Today I worked in the sewing/craft room, and while steps have been made towards having a nice well organized room I am not ready to share pictures with all of you as of yet.

What I will share is another area that needs some decluttering and organizing. The shelves on my computer desk.

One side is full of disks and books for software we no longer have or use. Time to get it cleared out!!

This side.....

is full of receipts, phone books, note pads, note books, and paid bills. Time to get this organized so things are easier to find. Especially since I have our medical/optical/dental payments and reimbursements from the insurance company in an envelope in this mess.

So along with doing the usual household chores, working on my goals for the month and organizing the sewing/craft room, I am tackling this. Wish me luck.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

Today was peaceful and relaxing, which was just what I needed to face the rest of the week.

My best friend and I went down in the valley to her sister's house and swam in their pool. Oh so very peaceful, I could gladly live in a place like that away from the noise of the city. Of course I forgot my camera so no pictures. Sorry.

After arriving home and getting the potatoes ready in their foil package Harvey BBQed them along with some smallish steaks. Our sides were fresh cucumber and cherry tomatoes. Yum!

I also worked on cleaning up the sewing room. Guess what I found. The other ball of yarn I was looking for yesterday!!! Doing the happy dance here.

I worked a bit on the rug project and thought I would share a picture with you.

Tomorrow I will sew on the remaining cord, finish off the variegated yarn and add in the medium goldy brown. Things are moving right along.

Harvey was working on the computer today and I was doing a bit of stitching when all of a sudden he looked at me and said, "Boy you have a lot of projects going on. Two rugs, and your needlework. Are you going to be able to get everything done?"

I looked up from my stitching and said, "I also have two clothing patterns cut out that I want to get done by the end of the month."

He shook his head and told me I was a bit crazy. I agree.

Lots of work to do still in organizing the sewing/craft room but at least I have made a start.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Organized Chaos????

This is something that I need to do in my sewing/craft room.

I don't know why but a few weeks (okay almost days) after I get it looking like a place where I can create it ends up looking like this:

My nicely set up bookcase and the floor around it messed up, patterns out of order, fabric and papers piled in front of it, and books piled up beside it.

The space in front of my serger piled with finished knitting projects, darned socks and cords. As well as my CD player.

The area underneath my nicely organized spool board is covered in cords, parts of my sewing machine, yarn and plastic project bags.

Fabric, quilting squares, and boxes that I have no idea what they contain. I even have another sweater laying over top of everything (I have a sweater hanging on the back of my sewing chair as well).

Lastly there is this.....

My fabric and yarn drawers covered with still more fabric, clothing, books, patterns, bias tape and lord only knows what else.

How did the room get in this bad of shape you may ask....

I haven't been spending much time organizing and putting things away since the summer started. Too busy working on unfinished projects (that I pulled out of what was a nicely organized room) to even look at the mess I was leaving behind.

What got me looking now was the necessity to find another ball of yarn that I wish to add on to Kris's Christmas rug. I know I should have two, but can only find one..... It must be somewhere in this mess, or perhaps in the mess by my chair (another place I have let get out of hand).

In order to be a smart and frugal shopper I need to be able to find my purchases when I need them!! It is not in the least a savvy shopper who loses items they buy because of a mess.

So I am making a promise to spend at least 30 minutes a day getting this room straightened out and then I will move on to the mess beside my chair. This is added on to my goals for this month.

Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of a nicely organized room when I am done.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

From Supermoon to Mending

We had another Supermoon a few nights ago, and once again I thought I would try to photograph it.

I had mixed results.

This is one without using the zoom feature on my digital camera. Not too bad, so I decided to try zooming in.....

Not what I call the best picture. Harvey says it looks like I broke the moon..... Still it is a cool picture over all.

Today I spent part of the day refashioning some long sleeved t-shirts for Harvey into short sleeves. First I measured and cut off the sleeve.

Giving me some more t-shirt material for the rug that I plan on making down the road.

I then put the rough cut sleeves through my Serger. I didn't get a picture of this I just plumb forgot.

Lastly a bit of a hem on the regular machine. And voila 3 new to him short sleeved t-shirts.

The afternoon was spent working on my cross stitch. Sharing with you all how far along this project has gotten over the last few weeks.

I hope to be even further along the next time I share a photo with you.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.