Monday, September 16, 2013

Sorry....

I have been missing for a little bit and will be missing in action once again.

This getting ready for a trip really takes it out of a persons day.

Today we leave for our 20 day holiday to the UK and Ireland. We are going to have so much fun. I will bring pictures back to share with you all.

God bless.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Update A Day Late and Some Family Pictures

Things got away from me yesterday and I did not manage to update my cross stitch project.

This is what it looked like a week ago.

And this is what it looks like before I started working on it today.

I can actually see a big difference!!! It makes me feel like I have accomplished something on it.

A cousin of mine posted some pictures on Facebook that make me remember my days growing up.

This is a picture of my Grandma Koch. She always seemed to be busy cooking and cleaning. I loved coming from Ontario and staying for the week to visit her.
Never did she tell us not to eat something, and her hugs were the best. Grandma had 65 grandchildren and until near the very end always remembered our names and the names of our husbands and children.

We would also go and visit Grandpa the day we got into town. He worked at the hotel and because of this we would have to wave from the door. He would come over with packages of Juicy Fruit gum to give to each of us.

This is a picture of my grandparents and the oldest children in the family.

 This is my Uncle Albert and my Aunt Frieda sitting between my Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma got married at 16.......

Here is a picture of my Grandpa's parents and siblings. Grandpa seems to be missing from the photo. They immigrated from a small German town in Russia, coming up through the United States. Great Grandpa left a brother and sister somewhere in the United States. We did meet relatives from Washington State once many years ago.

I remember Uncle Konrad and Uncle Alex...not so much Uncle David. When we lived in Toronto Uncle Konrad would come for Sunday dinner at least once a month. He had two children, but I only ever met the son and can't for the life of me remember his name. Uncle Konrad was a tailor and had a hunchback. He was a very sweet man and always had a pocketful of chocolate for us kids.

Uncle Alex owned one of the funeral homes in Yorkton. He changed the spelling of his last name so people would pronounce it correctly. He was no longer Alex Koch but Alex Cook....

Well that is a little bit about my family history on my fathers side.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Practice Makes Perfect..... Hopefully

The day we leave on our flight is getting closer and closer. I am trying to get as much done as I can. Lists are getting whittled down and new lists made daily.

Today I decided to pack my suitcase.... Okay, practice packing my suitcase, after all 20 days away from home does take some serious clothing thoughts and the weather plays an important roll as well.

Out came the suitcase, and all the clothes I hoped to take with me. I spent the better part of an hour rolling clothing and fitting it snugly in.

This is what my finished packing looked like.

Everything fit (I did forget one top though) with room left for personal items. I may go through my list one more time and see if there is anything else I can do without. After all one needs room for all those little tokens one brings back from their travels.

I did forget to weigh the whole thing though. Must do another practice and then weigh it. Perhaps tomorrow.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Menu Monday

That time once again. The fact that we will be leaving in about a week has me on a use up what I can in the fridge and freezer plan. Don't want to leave too much behind in case we lose electric or it is easily spoiled.

Monday

Smoked Sausage, pasta side dish and a salad. Using up some sausage and some more lettuce/cukes.

Tuesday

Leftover pork made into some type of casserole.

Wednesday

Steak, mashed potatoes and salad.

Thursday

Leftover chicken.... Not sure how I will do this.

Friday

Tuna Casserole

Saturday

Leftover night

Sunday

Soup and Sandwiches

Should clean out the fridge and fridge freezer nicely.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Sunday Ramblings

The past few days have been a bit busy on the old homestead. I have frozen more tomatoes, started and left various lists that need to be accomplished before we leave on our vacation.

I have also subbed 2 days in our Catholic system which cut down on getting things accomplished. Oh well this next week should be jam packed!!!!

Our new priest was installed as our pastor today by the Archbishop so Mass was a bit longer than usual. It was nice to sit and watch the installation instead of taking part in it. I got more out of it this time around.

Lunch was served in the basement and it was a little disappointing that not many came down to share in the celebration. As a parish we are divided and not everyone takes part in the social aspects.

I left the church after the luncheon and walked out into a gentle rain. We have now gotten rain the last two days. While the grass and gardens needed it badly, I am sure the farmers are cursing the end of some wonderful harvest weather.

I finished the first baby afghan this week.

Blue and white so it is suitable for a boy. Trying to use up what I have and make room for new purchases in the future.

Now on my needles.....

This will be a pink and white one. Suitable for a girl of course. I know I won't finish it by the time we leave, but I am hoping to have a good start on it.

The next one will be suitable for either a girl or boy. Then I will need to start on my knitting for Christmas. Found a lovely portable pattern and want to make one for both Kurt and Kris.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Cross Stitch Update and Subbing Started Again

Today I subbed as an EA at one of our Catholic Schools. Sure am glad that I don't have to go in every day as the times have changed and I doubt I could keep them straight. While we do get out 5 minutes earlier, we only get 45 minutes for lunch. Not really enough time if you want to go out, thank heavens I usually bring my lunch with me.

It was nice to see all the students again though even though it cut my project time down a great deal. I only got to work on my cross stitch for about 45 minutes after work today. It will be the same tomorrow as I am subbing in a kindergarten class in the other Catholic School tomorrow.

So, this is how far I managed to get last week on the angel.

And this is how far I have gotten this past week.

Not much difference, but I can see that slowly but surely I am getting it done.

Mama Bear from Bears Return Home asked about my oven fries. Well I cut up potatoes into wedges, place them in a plastic bag to which I have added some oil (about 1/4 cup) and spices (usually some Seasoning Salt). I shake the bag to cover the potatoes well with the oil/spice mixture and pour them onto a foil lined baking tray. Stick them in the oven and bake until they are golden brown at 350 F. Easy, peasy.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Busy, Busy

The past few days have been busy ones here on the old homestead.

I pulled out two heads of cabbage from the freezer yesterday and got to work making cabbage rolls. First, after the heads of cabbage thawed, I removed the leaves.

Then I proceeded to mix up the filling. Four pounds of ground beef, 2 cups of rice, salt, pepper and 2 diced onions.

All mixed together and ready to go.

The cabbage rolls ready to go in the oven. This is a picture of the last 2 roasters ready to put in the oven when the first two come out.

I opened a can of tomato juice to pour over top. Seventy-five cabbage rolls in total were made, some of which we had for supper. The rest were put into tin foil containers, cooled down, labeled and placed in the chest freezer.

Done for another year.

The rest of my days have been spent picking tomatoes, cucumbers and working on unfinished projects. Things are moving along just fine.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Menu Monday

Ahh a new week right at the start of a new month. What could be better, I ask. How about not having to plan a whole month of menus for the first time ever.

We will be leaving for the UK and Ireland this month so menu planning was both simple and complicated. After all I only have a bit over two full weeks to use things up in the fridge.....

So here are this weeks menu plans.

Monday

Cabbage Rolls. These are being made for the freezer (and to use up yet more cabbage) and we may as well have them for supper as well.

Tuesday

Leftover Ham warmed up. Served with sliced cucumber and sliced tomatoes. Thinking rice will go well with this and any leftover I can take for lunch tomorrow.

Wednesday

Spaghetti and meat sauce. Think we will have sliced cucumbers, carrot sticks and tomatoes for a side dish... Along with some dip of course.

Thursday

Leftovers from the weeks menus so far.

Friday

Fish fillets, homemade oven fries and green beans.

Saturday

Sausage, mashed potatoes, and beets.

Sunday

Leftover Chicken made into a wonderful casserole


Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Sunday Ramblings

Perhaps the title of this post should include Saturday happenings as well. I intended to post yesterday on what would have been the final day of August, but time as usual just got away from me. Not that I was overly busy, just putzing around seeing what trouble I could get into.

Yesterday morning the men in my life (Kris came home for a visit this long weekend) went fishing. I was told they would be back in time for lunch.... Lunch time rolled around and they were no where to be seen!!! The truck came rolling in at about 1:30 and the men headed to the back yard right away. A total give away. The fish started biting at about 11 so they stuck around and fished until the biting stopped.

This is what they came home with.

Caught their limit and were extremely happy about it. However both seemed to be a bit overcome with the heat and spent most of the remainder of the day sleeping or sticking to the air conditioned house.

While they were gone I got busy doing a few things that needed to be done.

Another 6 bags of tomatoes done for the freezer.


I am up to 18 bags now and hopefully will get a few more as those larger tomatoes ripen.

I also spent some time reorganizing my sewing/craft room trying to make things a bit easier to find. All my buttons were stored together in a large storage box. This made finding the proper button a bit of a conundrum. So along with storing all my cross stitch cloth (aida, linen, and afghan cloths) I decided it was time to do something about it.


All my buttons and snaps are now separated into colours which will make it much easier to locate what I need.... Now just have to organize my material a bit better and things will be almost back to normal in the room. Hopefully tomorrow I will have more pictures of the sewing/craft room to share with you all.

Today, well I have done a bit of reading, worked on my cross stitch project, started a loaf of bread (Kris wants to take one home so this one is his), read a book for a bit and played on the computer a great deal (Scrabble and Words With Friends are my new addictions as far as game playing).

The day has drifted by peacefully and I find myself thinking more and more of those who passed on, Harvey's parents, mine and our sweet Krista. I think it could be because we will be gone on Krista's birthday and the day we buried Dad. We have always visited Krista on her birthday so this year it is going to be strange not to take flowers out and talk to her for a bit. Our darling daughter would have been 35 this year and I often wonder what our lives would have been like had she not been taken from us so soon.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.