The End of A Busy Week

It has been a busy week on the old Phillips homestead. Not so much busy around the house as busy around the church and working as a sub in one of the schools. I am exhausted and just want to spend a few days at home with my feet up. Not going to happen, but it is lovely to dream about.

The weather has taken a turn for the worse. It is really cold and getting colder by the minute. I am hoping that there are no power outages, and we don't end up freezing as the temperatures are getting dangerously low tonight. To keep our power usage as low as possible I have been busy turning any lights off that are not necessary to my moving around the house safely.

The temperature is supposed to drop to around the -37 C mark tonight with wind chills making it feel like -54 C. Too cold for man or beast as far as I am concerned. Closing the drapes tonight after the sun disappeared I could feel the cold radiating off the glass. Brrrr.

Tonight I managed to do a bit more work on my rug project.

Slowly but surely getting it done. I only have a small amount of the green left and I can start on another ball of the cream and keep right on adding to it. Another goal slowly being accomplished (this is something that will be an ongoing goal for me until it is finished).

I have almost figured out my goals for next month and will post them tomorrow once I am finished formulating the best possible way of expressing what I want done. Goal setting seems to be the best way for me to accomplish anything around this drafty old house.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

It is that time of the week once again. This week is going to be horrendously busy. I will be working days at the French Immersion school here in the city and then trying to fit in a few hours every evening or right after I finish school to get the other positions job hours in. Should be ready to crash and burn by the end of the week.

Because of this busyness I changed my menu plan to things that are easy and quick to make.

Monday

Cabbage Rolls from the freezer. What could be simpler!

Tuesday

Plan on warming up some chicken and serving it with potatoes and carrots... Or I could turn it into a chef salad with the boiling of a couple of eggs and some cheese.

Wednesday

Leftover fried ham along with some rice and a veggie.

Thursday

Salmon cakes or loaf along with leftover rice and a salad.

Friday

French toast as I will be so tired out I won't want to cook for days.

Saturday

If things work out we will be heading into the city and having a meal out!!

Sunday

Chicken, just not too sure how I will make it. I am thinking of trying something new.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

Well I finished another goal today and once my vest is washed and ready to show all of you I will post a picture of the finished project.

I just finished posting the scarves on the family Facebook page. Hope I get some buyers. It would be nice to make some cash from a hobby.

I also started back working on my rug. I got two rounds sewn on to it and hope to make more cord over the next week. My last goal for this month was to get more done on this project. Looks as if this goal will be met as well.

It is very cold here even though the sun is shining and we have very little wind. Why is it that every time I work in one of the schools the temperature plummets? Perhaps I need to stop subbing and the weather will get more the way it should be for February.

Kurt phoned tonight and it was nice to hear his voice. He has been paying an extra $100.00 on his mortgage every month and was quite surprised that he has cut almost 5 years off his mortgage. He tells me that once he gets his car paid off that payment is going on his mortgage as well. I think we raised a very smart young adult.

Harvey really wants to travel next spring so we are working on getting some cash put aside for spending or to help pay for the trip. Right now our change jars are getting pretty full and I have started to put away any extra two and one dollar coins that come my way. Hopefully we won't have to take very much out of savings to fund this trip. We are thinking Greece and Italy this time around with the same tour company to get an even bigger discount on our trip (saving money is a good thing).

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

One Monthly Project Completed

Well, here it is very close to the end of this rather short month and I can safely say I have finished one of my goals for this month.

Here are the last few scarves that I managed to complete.

Now all I have to do is put them up for sale. Kris keeps saying he wants to start an etsy (think I have spelled that incorrectly) shop for me, but I would rather have a larger stock of items to sell. Perhaps next month I will have a goal of making some fingerless gloves for sale, or some dish cloths.......

I am back working on my rug which is another goal for this month. Don't know how much I will get completed as I am going to be working many hours next week. Oh well, I will do what I can and manage to get as much done as possible. Just working on it again is meeting my goal for this month.

I still have the other goal to complete, but I hope to get it done tomorrow as it is a very simple sewing job and will only take an hour or so.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

How Do They Do It?

I spend a great deal of time reading blogs (well when I am not working, playing games on Facebook, or moderating a forum) and wonder how the bloggers come up with a post every day. Not just any post either, but one that is interesting, uplifting or just plain good reading. I find it hard to come up with a meaningful post the few times I manage to get here.

I have decided that I have a boring uneventful life. Is that good or bad? I sometimes can not believe that I have asked people to join in and read about my daily life. Nothing really happens that enables me to make my life other than a bit...well...boring.

Don't get me wrong, boring can be good. I don't suffer extreme highs or lows, my life carries on in a linear pattern. For the most part I am content with who and what I am, an ordinary person, living an ordinary life. I just wish every so often that I could make my life sound a bit more exciting like other bloggers do. I wish something could excite me so much that I could take my place among those bloggers that have hundreds of followers and seem to find something that makes their life stand out from the crowd.

Vent over and I am off to read some more blogs to get a glimpse into the life of each of you. I think I might be just a bit maudlin tonight.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

My menu changed on Sunday, instead of the roast pork we had roast turkey. Kris was home so I decided to fatten him up a little bit. This however changes my menu plans for the upcoming weeks a little bit.

Monday

Chili and toast. I made a large pot so we will be having one container later this week.

Tuesday

Leftover turkey. Time to try another new recipe.

Wednesday

Leftover chili on leftover rice from another meal.

Thursday

Hotdogs and baked beans. Plan on having some veggies and dip as well.

Friday

Fish fillets, egg noodles, veggies and dip.

Saturday

One of the containers of leftover stew perhaps with dumplings.

Sunday

Pork Roast, roast potatoes, and roasted carrots.

So there we are a week of menus that will enable me to get some work done around the house this busy week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

It has been a quiet, reflective day here in the old Phillips homestead.

I attended Mass this morning and Father Brian once again gave a wonderful thought provoking homily for this the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. He brought forth thoughts on the readings that I had never even thought about. Mentioning how Christ stated that women were not property but people in their own right. Makes me wonder how some people can still treat women as second class citizens with lower pay and in some countries they don't even have the right to vote!!! We sure haven't come very far even though some governments would like us to think we have.

The afternoon was spent knitting while Kris and Harvey bonded, doing something they both love.

Ice fishing, well they both love fishing in any way shape or form and it gives them "Men time". I wanted them to get pictures of some of the rather large ice shacks but this is what they came home with.

They didn't catch anything but were gone for almost 3 hours giving me some needed alone time (something that has been in short supply over the past few weeks of cold temperatures and snow).

Kris is heading home tomorrow and I will be busy trying to get things done around the house before I go back to work on Tuesday. Hope the roads are in good shape.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Short and Sweet

Just want to wish all my blogging friends a very Happy Valentines Day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

This week has been a busy one so far and it does not look as if it is going to get much better. I have a meeting tonight, tomorrow I insert into the church bulletins, and on Saturday I have to open and lock the church for a funeral. Hmmm, this position with the church is making a mockery of my blogging time.

Last night we were in the midst of a snow storm.

In the beginning the snow was just large flakes, coming down quickly, but not enough to cause too many problems as this picture attests. Later though, the wind picked up and all that fresh snow and the snow that was falling got blown around. This caused white out conditions!!

Luckily enough I was safe at home baking.

First I made carrot cake. I made a large pan first.

Then decided to get a bit fancy.

I pulled out my heart shaped pan and made some for Valentines day.

I also baked rather large heart shaped Sugar Cookies and spent a bit of time icing them. Forgot to take a picture though. I will try to get one later.

Earlier in the week I tried a new recipe to use up our leftover Roast Beef.

This Beef Curry will not be making our regular rotation. It just did not taste as good as it should have. Considering both of us love curry in any way, shape or form this is a disappointment.

I have managed to get a few more ruffle scarves made as well. Here are the next three in line.

This is the one I am working on now.

Getting through the yarn that I picked out for these projects seems to be moving along at a nice clip.

Lest anyone thinks I have neglected my fabric stash. I made a Valentines Garland to hang around the mirror in the hallway.

Dang it, wish that I was not in the picture. Kind of ruins the whole effect.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Menu Monday

After missing last weeks post about our weekly menu, I noticed one thing. I didn't really stick with my plans for the week. Hopefully this post will get me back on track.

Monday

Meat loaf, mashed potatoes, either green beans or peas, and salad that was leftover from dinner last night.

Tuesday

Leftover Beef Roast (need to try something new and interesting here), leftover mashed potatoes, and the asparagus that is left in the crisper.

Wednesday

The Tuna Casserole I was going to make last Friday.

Thursday

Leftover Spicy Turkey Soup and some type of sandwich.

Friday

Lazy Perogies, cause I really hope youngest DS is coming home and he loves these.

Saturday

Chicken Cordon Bleu, Rice, and corn.

Sunday

Pork Roast, potatoes, and carrots.

I may be able to make a dessert for the upcoming weekend. I am sure even if it is only cookies, DS will be extremely happy.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

I have finished with the Lay Presided Services for awhile now I hope. I think that these took more out of me than I thought they would.

Most people seemed just fine with them, but a few of our regular parishioners did not show up at all. Mainly because they services were in fact Lay Presided. Hmmm, wonder how they fulfilled their Sunday obligations, for some reason I don't think watching the Mass on TV actually counts.

Today's question at the end of the Homily (I can call it that because Father Brian wrote it) asked us Who do we see Christ in?

A hard question to answer without really thinking about it. The easy answer for me would be my husband and children. They accept me for who I am with all my human frailties and love me in spite of them. This question became harder when I looked beyond my immediate family and Father Brian. One could say I see glimpses of Christ in everyone I meet, but to really go beyond that is hard for me. Perhaps it is my own failings that cause this problem and it is something that will be an ongoing project to work on.

The house has been infested with small flies lately. You know the kind that look like fruit flies but are just a touch larger. I finally figured out where they were coming from when I watered my plants today.

My lovely poinsettia seems to be the culprit. I don't want to throw them out when they are still so beautiful, but it may come to that. Anyone have an idea or two that I could try to get rid of the pesky flies without getting rid of the plant?

Off to read a few blogs and then to do some more knitting.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Almost Done

Tonight I presided at my fourth Sunday Liturgy of the Word. Only two more to go and I will be home free.

This service did not have Communion and so only took about 1/2 hour. Amazingly everything went very well with the service. However, things did not go so well with the locking up of the church. One of the doors seems to be a bit cantankerous. While it opened nicely, it seemed to not want to lock back up. Refusing to have to spend the night in the church guarding the door I fiddled with it for about 15 minutes before I could get it to lock.

I think for tomorrows services I am going to stick a sign on it asking people to use one of the other doors. Saving me some time I hope.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless. 

A Wonderful Use It Up

We were discussing using things up in our homes on a forum I frequent and one of the posters Recovering Dreamer mentioned drying garlic, grinding it up and making garlic powder. Since I have a fairly large bag of garlic that I am working my way through I asked how she made her garlic powder. Wonderful woman that she is, she gave me directions and that is what part of my day has been spent doing.

I had to go downstairs and pull this out once again.

Proceeded to peel and slice the garlic as thinly as I possibly could. Hmmm, the garlic slices fell through the racks so I placed some plastic wrap on them and then put the garlic on top.

Proceeded to dry the garlic and once it was dry moved on to the next step, grinding to a powder.

Recovering Dreamer used her food processor to grind her garlic. Me, well I used one of the two coffee grinders we own.

I dumped the dry garlic slices into the grinder.

Put the lid on and pulsed a few times.

This is what I ended up with.

A lovely fresh garlic powder. I put it in an air tight container ready to use.

Drawback.....my house smells like garlic. Pros I managed to use up some of the garlic in the house. Tomorrow I plan on making some more. The old adage "Waste Not, Want Not" is the mantra this year in my home.

Check out her blog. The link is on my side bar..... A Life Beyond Money. There is always something new to learn there.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday Tid Bits

Today has been a very relaxing day overall. I only worked for a few minutes this morning and my meeting tonight was cancelled. Perfect as far as the weather goes, it's cold, windy and not a fit night out for man or beast little lone a woman.


While it looks like a lovely winter's evening, the temperature with the wind chill is in the -30 C range. Very cold and only going to get colder as the sun disappears.

The really nice thing is that this picture was taken at around 6:20 pm and the sun is just beginning to go down. The days are getting longer, so even with the cold, storms, and wind I can tell spring is on the way. Oh, I can hardly wait until I look out my window and see something other than snow and ice.

Mind you one good thing about winter is that it gives a person lots of time to think and to craft!!!

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Working On One Of My Goals

As many of you probably remember I posted some goals at the end of last month for this month. One of those goals was to knit 10 Ruffle Scarves.

Thought I would share how far along I have gotten on that goal. One scarf is in the mail to the person who wished to buy it.

These are two of the three scarves I have finished.

This is what is on my needles right now.

Slowly but surely making my way through the yarn I picked out. It does look like I will be able to finish this goal on time. That is if nothing gets in the way.

Other than these scarfs and waiting on news about my niece's boyfriend there is really not much happening around here.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Really I am so very sorry that I have not been posting lately. There has just been so much going on not only with my new position at work, but another happening.

This past Friday our niece's boyfriend of many years was in a serious accident on the way home from an ice fishing trip. He was ejected from the vehicle he was in through the windshield. He is conscious, but still not breathing on his own. The CT scan today did not show any complications due to his back surgery (he fractured his back between C4 and C5), has some serious frostbite as help could not be gotten to him for awhile, and needed to have CPR in the Star's helicopter for 7 minutes before his heart started once again.

I am asking for prayers for his recovery from all of you.

Promise that I will be doing regular posts again very soon.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.