Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Strange Weather

This is what it looked like yesterday.

And the heavy, wet, snow kept right on coming for most of the day. Driving was a pain as the corners were packed down and almost pure ice.

Today, it is bright and sunny. All the snow is gone. It even got fairly warm out, more like a lovely spring day than winter arriving once again. I hope this was its last gasp for breath.

Yesterday I got out of going to work at the school and spent the time sewing and knitting as well as getting some of my Tuesday household chores done.

I finished the sundress. Number 8 on the cut out patterns.

I am not going to tempt the fates again by sewing another one. Think I will stick to tops and other dresses for awhile.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Monday, April 28, 2014

Menu Monday



Here it is almost the beginning of May and looking out my window this morning I see.....3 inches of wet snow and it is still falling. Looks as if spring sprung a leak!!!

Anyway, I guess there is still room on the menu for comfort food for awhile yet. So here is the next week of dinner menus.

Monday

Leftover Ham. I am planning something new so if it turns out I will post about it tomorrow.

Tuesday

Leftover Beef Roast. Using the old stand by of thinly sliced, heated in gravy, add some onions, mushrooms, and sour cream. Serve over noodles.

Wednesday

Slow cooked pork ribs. Rice and some veggies from the freezer to go along with.

Thursday

Chicken leg quarters baked served with leftover rice and mixed veggies.

Friday

Fried Cod fillets, oven fries, and coleslaw

Saturday

Harvey is on his own as I will be at my 10 year Lay Ministry Reunion...provided the weather is cooperating.

Sunday

Roast Chicken, roasted potatoes, and roasted carrots.

There we are, the new month is starting and I am still making hearty winter meals. All because we are still cold and getting snow!!

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sunday Ramblings


This weekend has not been the best for weather, and the outlook for the first three working days does not look any better. We had rain and wind all night and into the morning. By afternoon the wind had died down, but not the rain. To make matters even worse we had some sleet late in the afternoon and the overnight forecast is calling for wet snow. Grrr, every time I think spring has sprung for good, something like this happens.

This Sunday was Divine Mercy Sunday and the homily Father Brian gave was all about God's infinite mercy. This is also the day that two new Saints were canonized. Our two new Saints are John Paul II and John the XXIII. Both so very deserving of this honour.

I did not get the sundress made today, I still have the neck casing and hem to do. It will only take a short while so hopefully I can finish it tomorrow after work.

I have not posted a picture of my rug project in awhile so here it is.

Notice it is getting bigger and bigger. I plan on doing some more cord making after I finish this blog post. I finished the burgundy yarn this month and am about half way through the sage green.... Moving along very nicely if I do say so myself.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Saturday, April 26, 2014

Another Rainy Saturday

This is the start of what is supposed to be another rainy weekend, but at least the rain held off for my early morning walk.

I spent the day inside getting things in place for the upcoming week. Since I will be working in one of the school systems for three days at the beginning of the week, plus a few hours at the church, I needed to get some chores done today.

You know, those pesky every day chores....especially laundry and a bit of deep cleaning. Laundry is finally done and all folded, just waiting for me to put everything away. Tomorrow I will finish up the Monday chores and start on Tuesday's. I really like to be ahead of things.

The rest of the day, up to now, has been spent sewing. I finished one of the dresses I had cut out earlier this month.

Just a simple, light weight, ankle length summer dress. It still needs to be washed and pressed but that can wait for another week. My next project to be worked on will be another dress. The jacket I would like to sew takes a bit more work and I want to get as much sewing done as is possible. I can probably get the dress finished tomorrow and get started on the jacket the next day.

Then I tried something very new to me. I decided to make a pizza for supper from the crust up. Out came the handy, dandy bread maker. In went the crust ingredients, out came the dough. Then I spent some time topping said pizza.

 Here it is before it went in the oven. I topped it with browned Italian sausage meat, some leftover ham, sliced onion and sliced green pepper. Added the cheese and stuck it in the oven.

The masterpiece just out of the oven. Harvey loved it. I think this will become a once a month addition to our menu.

Now, well once the laundry is put away, I plan on putting up my feet, enjoying an alcoholic beverage and working on my knitting.

What a wonderfully productive day!!!!

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Friday, April 25, 2014

Friday Happenings

Today was just beautiful....

I went for an early morning walk and got my 14 blocks done in record time. Guess next week I will move up to 16. Mind you I will be working three days of the week so this could be slightly difficult. I may be doing 2 weeks of that 16 blocks.

Then I sat at my computer with a cup of coffee and checked out the games I play on my Facebook page. When I looked up about 15 minutes later a dense fog had rolled in. When the fog finally disappeared the sun was shining once again.

Harvey went out and got the rest of the eaves guard on the long side of the house. Now there is just a small portion of the back to do. Pretty soon I will not have to worry about him climbing on the roof to clean the eaves trough. Or at least he won't have to go up quite as often.

Then he put up my umbrella dryer. Looks pretty darn good. I just hope it holds all my laundry!

Me, well I did some sewing today. I finished off project number 6 for this month. A lovely summer top.

I forgot about matching the plaid, but all in all it does not look too bad at all. I also used some extra wide double fold bias tape to bind the neck and sleeve edges instead of using the same material. I am happy with the finished product and plan on making a couple more of these for my summer wardrobe. Well, I will be making them the next go round for sewing goals.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Thursday Tid Bits

Just a short post tonight as it is late and I am a bit sad.

Tonight was our last RCIA class and I am going to really miss my Thursday night get together with everyone. It was such a great group.

Christa, brought me a gift tonight.

These beautiful flowers.

So very nice of her.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

And The Rain Begins

I checked out the weather forecast for the next few days and what do I see.....


It has been raining steadily for the last few hours, before the rain started it was a bit clearer (not much) and the wind was howling. Much rather have the rain as that will clean things up nicely. Perhaps even start the grass growing and trees budding out.

I spent much of today baking and sewing. First thing this morning I started a loaf of brown bread. Nothing, but nothing can beat the smell of bread baking.

I then moved on to making a coffee cake.

It's been sliced and 16 slices are coming with me to my class tonight. The rest will be wrapped up and eaten here at home.

I also finished my skirt today (did not get the cord sewn to the rug though).


Just has to be washed and ironed before wearing.

So far I seem to be managing my goals for the month quite well. Today is the first non work day that I did not get out for my morning walk. That was due to weather conditions....may just have to find a solution for these rainy spring days.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.




Tuesday, April 22, 2014

That's My Story and I'm Sticking To It

As I said in yesterdays post I didn't post much last week. Not only was I busy (surprisingly enough), but I was also getting used to these.....

Yes, my new glasses..... The optometrist calls them progressive lenses, I on the other hand call them trifocals. You know the saying "A rose by any other name....." I am finding it very hard to focus on anything with them. I seem to find the sweet spot, then glance away and when I come back I have lost the area I need to use. People keep telling me to give it time, but this is crazy. Even now I lose the area I need and things get blurry. Hard to concentrate on something long enough to get anything completed. Guess I am getting old.

I did manage to complete a few things over the past week.

First I finished off a skirt.

Nice and light, perfect for the upcoming summer. If it ever arrives. Summer that is.

Next I finished off a pair of shorts.

A nice bright blue. I may just have to make a summery top to go along with these.

I also tried a new recipe tonight for supper. It is a keeper, quick, easy to make and it tasted just great.

Almost like a turkey stew, but a lot spicier. I got the recipe from an old cookbook I picked up at the Salvation Army.

In case anyone wants to give it a try. Here is the recipe.

Spicy Curried Chicken With Tomatoes

1/4 cup oil
1 medium onion chopped coarsely
2 medium green peppers, cored, seeded and chopped
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I used turkey instead)
28 oz can tomatoes with their juice
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and green peppers and cook, covered for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.
Add the garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, paprika, curry powder, ginger and salt. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, 8 minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
Put the chicken and tomatoes with their juice into the skillet. Simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is heated through and the liquid has thickened slightly.
Stir in the lemon juice. Serve with rice, noodles or potatoes.

You can use beef or lamb instead of the chicken or turkey.

This was a great way to use up leftovers and I have enough leftover for another meal. It also really did not take much time to put together. I think I could manage this even on a busy day.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Monday, April 21, 2014

Menu Monday







My how the time flies. I haven't been posting much this past week due to Kris fixing our computer on the weekend, and more or less living at the church. I hope to get back on track this week, but we shall see.


On with my weekly menus.

Monday

Pork chops, rice and either peas and carrots or the leftover salad from Easter.

Tuesday

Leftover chicken made into a casserole.

Wednesday

Clean out the fridge night. Should have lots of leftovers to get cleared out.

Thursday

Hamburgers and pasta if it is nice enough to BBQ, Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and a salad if not.

Friday

Vegetable Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

Saturday

Something using the Italian Sausage I bought. Perhaps a home made pizza.

Sunday

Beef Roast, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, and gravy.

Everyone have a wonderful day.

God bless.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Wednesday Is Here

This week is flying by. Soon Kris will be home and Kurt will be winging his way to Greece with his students. The Tridium starts tomorrow with Holy Thursday and my glasses are in as well.

Today I only worked in the office for a couple of hours and then headed home. I have a slight tickle in my throat so I hope I am not coming down with anything at this busy time.

Once home I completed my computer work for the Dogmatic Theology course next week and continued getting ready for the Easter Vigil.

Gifts for the RCIA participants from the parish are now wrapped and ready to give them that evening.

Wrapped in plain white tissue with a card that reads "God loves you". Perfect as that is what most of the course was about. The fact that God loves you just as you are, with all your defects and quirks.

My starter plants are coming along nicely.

Well all but the mint that is. Looks like I will be watering them tomorrow.

Everyone have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Monday, April 14, 2014

Menu Monday


 It is that time of the week once again. Last week I stuck to my menu plans very well. One day however, instead of the planned Chicken Wings we ate up the last of the chili. I also froze a package of chili and pasta for Kris to take home with him.

Monday

Leftover beef roast made into a pot pie with carrots, frozen peas, leftover corn and potatoes.

Tuesday

Spaghetti and meat sauce. I will make a salad to go with this.

Wednesday

Chicken Fingers, Oven Fries and the last of the salad.

Thursday

Baked Spaghetti.

Friday

Glace and eggs.

Saturday

We will be having our Easter dinner today as Kris will be heading back to Regina sometime Sunday morning.
Ham, potatoes, carrots, a salad, pickles, and more than likely a pie or crisp for dessert or perhaps a cake????

Sunday

Leftover ham and scalloped potatoes.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God Bless.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Sunday Ramblings


Today we start the Celebration of Christ's last week of life. This Sunday commemorates Christ's entrance into Jerusalem.

We heard the Passion story and listened to the reading from the Old Testament that spoke about his upcoming death.

Just thinking about what he will go through for our sins makes me grateful that God (cause Christ was God in human form) loved us all so very much. We need to pick up our cross and follow him.

It was a quiet day overall with just a few household tasks. Making my list of chores for next week and stripping and remaking my bed. Otherwise I really did not do very much at all, quite in keeping with a day of rest.

I did pull out the turkey carcasses from the freezer in the basement and make some stock.

Here is a picture of it boiling to concentrate it a little bit. I managed to get 4 1/2 containers which are cooling on my counter. I will be putting them in the fridge and then tomorrow in the freezer.


These are the bones, cooling and getting ready for me to pick the meat off them. I have enough meat picked off to add to two big pots of soup in the coming weeks. Frugal as my soup will only cost me pennies and homemade is always better tasting.

Then it was time to sit and have a bit of a rest.

What better way than a pot of tea and contemplation of life.

Yesterday I sewed some more of the burgundy cord on my rug project. Here is my weekly update.

Just a short piece of the burgundy left and I have already added in the sage green. The rug is now 3 feet across, so it is growing. Not quickly, but it is growing.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Saturday, April 12, 2014

No Waste Day

It's Saturday on the old Homestead and things moved along quite nicely.

I lost my gadget that said what blogs I was following so I have started to do it over. You will notice some are missing, but slowly I hope to get them all back up as well as some new ones. This is cleaning up my bookmarks as well. If I haven't gotten you on the blog roll as of yet, don't worry you will be back again soon.

I am happy to announce that we are more or less finished the big pot of chili I made a few days ago. Three meals for Harvey and I, plus a TV type meal to give to Kris when he comes home next weekend for Easter.

Oops, just noticed that I dated this wrong!!! Oh well, only out by a day. This meal for one used up the remaining pasta in the fridge and the last of the pot of chili. I love when I have no waste!!!

I also spent time in the sewing/craft room doing what I love. I finished off the shorts (though why I was concerned about getting them finished when we are now at -2 C I will never know) and a little dress.

I am moving right along getting this months goal completed, as far as sewing is concerned. As long as the patterns are simple I should be just fine.

All scraps from cutting out patterns over the last two months have been folded and put away. I am sure that I will find a use for every piece eventually.

I even finished making cord with the burgundy yarn late this afternoon. Now I just have to sew what is made onto the rug and I can add the sage green yarn. I am beginning to think more and more that work just cuts into my craft time. Guess it is time to figure out if I want to work or if I want to spend more time at home doing these types of activities. I hope to figure this out by the end of June, if not sooner.

Tomorrow I plan on doing a bit more sewing. I have a few patterns cut out that need to be sewn with blue thread so I hope to be able to do most of them with the same colour.

 Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless


Friday, April 11, 2014

Friday Snippets

Today has been fairly quiet. I have spent time in the sewing/craft room straightening things up. I also spent a bit of time sewing. I could have finished sewing my first pair of shorts today, but decided after doing a bit of sewing and tidying it was time to move on to something else.

While shopping today I picked up these beauties.

I definitely needed something to remind me that it was spring. After a few days of lovely warm weather, we are now under a snow advisory..... Some areas of the province are expected to get up to 15 cm of snow tonight and tomorrow. Not us thank heavens, but where my brothers live the weather is supposed to be just terrible.

It is April for crying out loud and it is raining right now. I foresee some seriously bad road conditions ahead. Add snow on top of ice slicked roads and accidents are sure to happen.

I also said good bye to my old purse. She was 5 years old and getting pretty worn out. Here is my new one.

Another reminder that spring should actually be here. I bought this at our family reunion 4 years ago and am really looking forward to using it over the next while.

Hubby bought me a special gift today, and I enjoyed a glass before supper.

Chocolate wine!!!! I couldn't wait for it to chill so I added a few ice cubes to it. I can hardly wait until I can enjoy a glass or two on the deck.

Every spring we are visited by two very special birds. Hubby actually thinks they have a nest in the rather large evergreen in the neighbours yard. This is actually the first time I have ever seen the two of them together rather than just hearing them coo.

Two fat and sassy Mourning Doves. The picture is not the best as it was getting dark out but still shows our yearly visitors. The greet us every morning with their call and are a sure sign that spring is actually here.

Last night we had our second last RCIA meeting. I have extended it one more meeting in order to do a bit of a wrap up. The participants will be confirmed at the Vigil and we are all very excited. I will really miss these two participants, they were willing to discuss absolutely everything and are so excited about the Tridium.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Thursday, April 10, 2014

Thursday Tid Bits

It is almost time to start supper. Thank goodness for leftovers as I will only have to make pasta and warm up the chili. I have a meeting tonight so an early supper, clean up and then off I go. This time the RCIA meeting.

My back is really bad today, and I am desperately tired. The wind is howling (many people call this type of brisk westerly wind an Alberta Clipper, I call it something else....) and my fibro is starting to kick in. I am happy to note that soon I will be home and resting for a few days. Hopefully that will help.

Went for my 10 block walk early this morning and actually cut a bit off my time. Next week I will be going for 12 blocks on the days I don't work and hopefully by the end of the week will have managed to cut time off once again by the end of that week.

I also spent some time cutting out some more sewing patterns.

A couple of dresses, a top, and in the bag with the shorts and pants pattern 2 pairs of shorts. So all together I managed to cut out 9 patterns. This means I used most of 9 pieces of fabric from my stash. I do have to go through the scraps tomorrow and decide what will be useful to use in what small (or larger quilting projects).

Then silly me decided to sew some more cord onto the rug project. Not a good idea as now the back is very painful. Stopped and rested hoping that by the time I leave for my meeting the pain will have dissipated, can't take any meds for it right now, but if it is still bad when I get home tonight I will.

Checked out my starter plants.

Starting to see some progress. I hope by the middle of next week to have a great start on the plants. My Moonflowers seem to be growing quite well.

Off to start supper.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Whew, A Few Spare Moments

The past three days have whizzed by, really I don't know where they have gone. Here it is Wednesday, the middle of the work week and I can barely remember yesterday!! I do know I went to work but other than that and a few chores around the house the day disappeared in the blink of an eye.

I did manage to finish my knit dress on Monday. Hmmm, the picture shows the hem as being crooked. Not true it is just not centered on the hanger properly.

Very simple pattern, but the next time I make it I think I would use a heavier knit.

Now I started on one of my other goals this month. Cutting out those patterns that I want to get finished to update or replace items that I either wore out or no longer fit.

Two very quick to make skirts, another quick to make sundress, and a jacket that can be sewn in a short period of time.


This is a picture of 7 pieces of fabric I would like to get cut out and if the patterns I use are simple enough, I should be able to get a few more items made. I am hoping for a sleeveless dress, a top, another skirt, a couple of pairs of shorts, and perhaps a summer top out of the blue checked with perhaps the white eyelet for trim. Stash busting and decluttering absolutely the best thing.

I think I might be busy!!

I have also been going for early morning walks on those days that I am not working. Hope to increase my distance by a couple of blocks every week.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Monday, April 7, 2014

Menu Monday


 Monday

Beef Short Ribs in a BBQ sauce, rice and the leftover veggies from the fridge.

Tuesday

Chili and toast.

Wednesday

Leftover Chicken made into something new and different.

Thursday

Leftover Chili served over pasta.

Friday

Perogies.

Saturday

Chicken wings, salad, and leftover pasta.

Sunday

Roast Pork, roasted potatoes, roasted carrots and leftover salad.

Here they are, my weekly menus. Pretty soon we will be moving into BBQ season and lots of veggies and salads. Yum.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Sunday Ramblings.


Lent is slowly drawing to a close. Soon we will be moving into the Tridium which is the part of the Church year I love.

Today the church was decently full, not as full as it used to be when our boys were growing up, but at least there were fewer empty pews.

Father Brian once again gave us a great deal to think about. He talked about the parables leading us into the teachings of Christ and how unless we understood all the levels of the teaching we were not very close to knowing and having a relationship with our Savior. This is much the same as what both the courses I am teaching say. We know lots about Christ, but do we really know him? Lots to think about this week.

I spent part of the day visiting a friend in the hospital. JoAnn, broke her pelvis while in Regina and is laid up in the hospital. She is hoping to get out for Easter. I am keeping my fingers crossed for her. Right now her husband, Albert, is in Edmonton with their son who is dying of cancer. I know JoAnn really wishes she was with him.

After getting home I spent some time in the sewing room. I am working on that dress I cut out last month. Still have a bit to do, but I quit while I was still having things go well. If I sew too long, well I start to make silly little mistakes and then get frustrated, which in turn leads to more silly mistakes. Better to stop while the going is good.

Yesterday I promised to show an update on the rug project. Pretty soon I may need a ladder in order to get a proper picture.


This once a week update is showing me that I am actually accomplishing more then I thought on this project. Tomorrow I should be able to sew some more of the burgundy cording on. I have 4 loops hanging on my knitting basket.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Where Did The Week Go????

Where on earth did this week disappear to? I know I was busy, but really did have good intentions to get a few posts done before now.

Our weather has changed for the better. We did get more snow on Wednesday evening, but by Thursday night when I went to lead the RCIA class the snow had disappeared and the sun was shining brightly.

I did manage to get a few things accomplished this week.

I cut up some more t-shirts for a project.

Still need lots more so I am hoping that when Harvey cleans out his drawers I will manage a few more. He usually gets rid of many of his t-shirts come cleaning out time.


I also managed to get my seeds planted. Nothing coming up as of yet, but I am hoping to see some green shoots appearing very soon. I even made a diagram of what each container holds.

No sewing happened this week, but I am hoping to start that up again tomorrow. I did work on the rug project and will have an update picture tomorrow. Planning to do some more cord making tonight/

Otherwise not much occurred on the old Homestead.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

It's All Downhill From Here

Once again it is the middle of the week. I actually have not accomplished all that I wanted, but at least the house is clean and I have decluttered more t-shirts and clothing. This week is a bit busier than most lately in that I have worked or will work 2 evenings and 3 days. Kind of cuts down on time around the house.


This month will be a reduce, reuse and recycle month on the Phillips Homestead.

I have already removed two bags of clothing from the premises and I hope to take some cans and bottles in tomorrow as well.


This is the third bag of clothing that I removed from our closets (okay mostly mine) and once I get a fourth bag filled off I will take them to the Salvation Army. I am beginning to enjoy the rooting through clothing to see what still fits, what I can perhaps remake into something else, and what needs to be out of the house and perhaps be replaced later down the road.

I was wondering if any of you knew what use this could be put to.

We were given a lovely wine rack as a gift for Christmas and as this one is still in excellent shape, we have been racking our brains to come up with a use for it. Any ideas???

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.



Tuesday, April 1, 2014

New Month, New Goals

Another month has started and I figured I should bring everyone up to date on how much I accomplished of my goals last month and make some new ones for this month.

Of my last month's goals I did manage to get two of the three completed totally and one half completed.

I managed to sew the two new items for my wardrobe, and 5 of the patterns I cut out were completed.

I organized the magazine recipes and decluttered them by giving them to the library and the schools.

I only finished around half of my challenge with my rug project in that I did get the cream yarn finished and started the burgundy yarn.

This month I am going to challenge myself to finish the burgundy yarn and get a good start on another ball of the sage green (if I finish the green I will be overjoyed).

I also plan to finish sewing the 6th pattern and cut out another 4 to hopefully get sewn. This is to replace items that no longer fit or I cleared out of my spring/summer wardrobe mainly because they were over 10 years old and no longer fit my lifestyle. I still have some of those, but the items fit and are not that old.

A friend on another blog started a book of calls she had to make, keeping track of them and if she had to leave a message when the person called answered her. I decided to do something similar, however in my case I am listing items bought and the date bought.
 I just want to see how long things last around the Phillips Homestead. So I have written what I bought for the house and myself, and the date I bought the item. Hopefully I will find a pattern and thus can save for those items in the future. I should write the cost down as well and will do that after looking at the receipts later. This will be an ongoing goal for the rest of the year and beyond.


My last goal is to increase my walking in the mornings that I do not work as well as cut down on my calories. I hope to lose 5 pounds this month. The weight just seemed to appear out of no where this winter and I am beginning to feel a bit rotund.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.