Thursday - School is out.

Today is the last day of school for my youngest daughter Miss J.  I have no idea where the school year went.  We don't get much of a break as summer school starts up Monday.  Miss J. will be practicing volleyball early in the morning, one class for 6 weeks, and has also taken on an online class through her high school.  We will see how the summer goes.  I am skeptical.


We are going on a week end camping trip up the mountain this week end.  Taking the dirt bikes out to ride mountain trail for a change instead of the desert.  I am a little nervous about this trip, first time on these trails with the my new quad.  It is not that there is any thing wrong with the quad, it is just that I am still getting use to the change, and it is a big change from the old one, and when I am riding on flat desert where you don't have to worry about staying on a trail it is a very different type of riding on steep rocky terrain where you must stay on a designated trail.  I am sure I will be sliding down a few places.  I am also use to having a brake control on my handle bar and not using my foot control.  This quad is just opposite, not even having a hand control on that side. It will sure be an interesting week end to say the least.  We are also having unusually mild weather which means that it will be pretty chilly up the hill, especially in the evenings.  That should be nice campfire weather at least.


On the home front, I need to change a few things up in an attempt to smooth the flow a bit.  I am trying to get the house really cleaned, deep cleaned, so that all I have to do is a little light house keeping each morning.  I know that there are people out there can clean, cook a great meal, cook ahead meals, preserve seasonal produce and still have time to pursue their hobbies or passions.  I tell you, it has been months since I used my paper craft supplies for anything but trimming coupons.  My desk is still in such a disarray I couldn't even make a card if I had to much less even attempt to create any scrapbook pages.  I even bought this binding machine, which I thought was like a bind it all that created a book bound with a spine, and it still sits in the floor with the plastic wrap on it.  I have no idea what to even really do with it.  It binds with heat and glue apparently, oh and also laminates.  I just really need to find the manual and see how to do it.  Laminating a weekly menu plan that I could wipe off and use over would be a pretty neat thing to have. I had planned on trying to bind up some of my personal recipes, but that will be on the back burner.


On that note, I am toting my planners, a few recipes, paper, pencil, and my lap top up the mountain with me and see if I can come up with a plan of action.  Here is what I need.


List of cleaning, by room, that needs to be done.  Then I am going to assess how often I realistically need to do that.  I mean I don't want to replace one set of task for another.


I need to tweak the menus.  My current planning system is great in concept, just not so great in execution. I have the best of intentions, and the planning is working as far as having the proper ingredients in my pantry, but it just seems to fall apart for one reason or another during the week.


Each week I post my menu plan on I'm an Organizing Junkie's blog for her MPM (Menu Plan Monday) and spend a lot of time visiting all the other blogs of the group that post their plans as well. I have noticed that several of the postings are for the meals for the past week instead of the week to come.  I am thinking that I may need to do that.  At least it would be a little more honest.  I post my menu plan on Monday, then about Wednesday am already off of it and winging it.  The reasons are several.  I am unorganized for one, keep loosing myself in other task or projects.  For another, I keep getting surprised with last minute announcements of meetings or activities.  Given this a lot of thought, I have concluded there are a couple of choices.  One is to just plan the menus as always, shop accordingly, and then just post what actually hit the table.  Another choice, one which I am leaning toward, is to just plan the menu, cook the menu, and whoever is hear gets to eat, otherwise they eat it as a left over later in the week.


I am really tired of trying to figure out what to fix when I have such picky butts to feed.  I grew up on casseroles and left overs.  Kind of think that some dishes are actually more tasty the following day.  My husband didn't have left overs and they rarely had a casserole.  I don't know why, they are so economical.  I guess it is part of that "meat is the star" thinking.  Why they never had pasta either is beyond me.  Give me a great plate of noodles, casserole with noodles, spaghetti, I am set.  I can make spaghetti and meatballs, hubby eats the sauce on bread, no noodles.  He is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, most of my family is.  THEY ARE JUST SPOILED. I admit, when I get like this, it is very tempting to just start cooking for me.  They never tell me until the last minute they have a meeting or such, so I plan a nice meal and end up eating it alone.  So why not plan and cook for myself?


Okay, enough of the pity party.  I have to go to the store and run by and check on my mom.  There goes half the day. I started a batch of Spanish Rolls yesterday, part of it has to sit over night for the flavors to come out, and will finish those up today.  Whether they like it or not we are taking them with us on the camping trip, just like I did when I was growing up. I think it is time for this momma to take back over a bit.  In a lot of ways.  


Thanks for stopping by and come visit again.

Wednesday - Coupons, sales, work outs.

Wow has it been a crazy week. I started the work outs, have only lost about 3 pounds so far, weigh in again tomorrow. However, I am so totally sore I can hardly move. Am also having a little bit of a physical problem as well.

Not much happening on the craft front. Just haven't had the drive to do anything lately. I know it will come back soon though. My mom's place has this activity called "Chat & Do" a couple of times a month or so. In other words they do a lot of chatting and a little doing. The current project is a scrapbook to put in the reception area of the assisted living building. I got excited about this, thought this was something I could help with. My mind started thinking I could take my punches, Cricut, Sizzix, cutters and such to work on some pages. Well...that went poof, mom told me that they were cutting pictures out of magazines and pasting them to pages. In her words, "a whole lot of nothing" going on. To me it seems a little like grade school activities. I know that theses women have limited physical abilities, but it just seems that there should be more that could be offered to them. Since I have known them, the projects have been: decorations for their dining table, paper place mats, little frames from Popsicle sticks, the usual cut and color kids crafts. The one thing that was kind of interested that I heard about was some beaded holders that clip a napkin on much like a bib. I really wish there was something I could do, some idea to come up with, to help the ladies make something. Wonder if they have ever thought about making cards. I do know that a few of the women crochet, knit and sew for charity causes. Wonder if it would be to pushy to talk to the leader and suggest making cards to send to soldiers or vet homes.

Tonight, on TLC, we watched shows about extreme couponing. I would love to be able to walk in to the grocery store and buy $1,000 worth of groceries for $5.94 but I can tell you that for this area of the country it just isn't possible. Here is why.

1. The couponers in the show all mentioned that they has several sources for coupons. One lady dumpster dove for the coupon inserts. There is no place in this town that I would legally be allowed to go through the dumpsters. I could tell from the show that the lady was at a recycle spot, but the only recycle places we have are for profit so no one is allowed to take anything. Besides, they are not for paper any way.

2. Another person on the show buys extra papers for the coupons. Suggested one for each member of the household. Okay, that at least makes sense, except for one problem. Our local newspaper only puts the coupons in the subscription papers. The ones available to purchase at the store or in the machines never have the coupons in them. One of the narrator's comments was that one shopper purchased coupons from a clipping service for about $70 a month. THAT LITTLE POINT was not made, nor factored in to the ending total of what she bought. If you have a favorite web site for free coupons, let me know.

3. The next tip mentioned was to use store coupons which double and triple the value of the coupon. Not one store in this town will double much less triple the value of coupons. I do not understand how the one couponer was able to use her preferred customer card to double her coupons at Albertson's, we do have an Albertson's but that just never happens here, I have asked about it. Also mentioned was Kroger's and Safeway, which we don't have any of those stores either. Now shopping the loss leaders I understand, just would love to double a coupon from time to time at least.

4. Insane quantities these people bought. Just because I have a coupon for does not mean I need to buy it. I mean really, 154 candy bars, 1,500 deodorants, 100 cups of yogurts. Half of their house is used for housing their "products". Most have a supply that is equal to 2 or 3 years for their respective families. I don't know about you, but I am thinking WHY? Really, they do this every week, so you know that they are not using up their "products" as fast as they are bringing them in. Don't know about you, but I do not want to pop open a 2 year old yogurt cup. Looking at the stash of "products" the only thing I can think of is organized hoarding. The other thing that I noticed about this show, I guarantee you my local grocery store - even the warehouse type - is not going to 218 boxes of the same kind of pasta or 73 bottles of mustard on the shelf.

Also, I have never come across a coupon for produce, meat, or milk. In fact, most stores will exclude milk on most frequent buyer programs.

There was one shopper on the show that made total sense about it all. She has a family of 6 - three of which are teen age boys, something I am very experienced with having two of my own. She planned out the meals for a month. Checked the sale circulars for the loss leaders (that is the items that are really reduced, will actually be a loss for the store, with the purpose of bringing you in to the store and there by hoping that you will buy more) making the menus for the month based on these sales when possible. She made a list, bought only what she needed for the month's meals, checked the clearance bin for some extra savings, and she was done. Now, to me this makes total sense and is at least a realistic approach. One which I intend to get back to using. It really does work to cut your spending when you utilize this approach to it's fullest. It takes a bit of work to get it started, but once you get it going it becomes easier financially to take advantage of the loss leaders by stocking up on them when they hit. Sales run in cycles, have noticed that at the craft stores as well. So, if pasta is on sale this week, in another three or four months it will be back on sale. Unless you are going to eat pasta every meal for 90 to 95 days in a row, why bother. Of course, my view of this may be a bit jaded as I am in a constant battle with pantry weevils. They look like small maggots when they are in the larvae stage and eat through everything. They then turn in to small brown moths, which lay eggs that seem to melt in to every box and bag because I find them in my crackers, chips, pasta, rice, cake mixes, even in the Jello. Basically anything that is not in a hard plastic, glass, or metal container. I have a hard enough time keeping them out of a pantry of about 1 1/2 to 2 month supply, no way I am putting in a 2 year supply.

Okay, I am stopping there. Need to make sure I don't get started on any other soap boxes, at least not when I am this tired. Thanks for stopping by and come back again.

I have tried five times to get my response to the point in color. Everytime I get it looking like I want, as soon as I click publish, the color disappears.

Midweek Wednesday

Well the week is half over. It has been a bit crazy. Nothing unusual, but thought I should show a few things off. Last post I showed some cards I had made. It ended up that the one I made for "Travel" was actually the one I made for the "Free" swap. At least that worked out since the Free could be any technique and anything design I wanted to make.

This is the card I had made for the "Free" swap. Used the Cricut. Since I still had the Cricut out and set up when I realized my mess up with the cards. Since I needed a "travel" card, I came up with this idea when looking through my stash of papers I saw the atlas map.

I think it is pretty good. I just hope that people I swap with aren't disappointed. I have gotten two of the three swaps I joined. Really wonderful cards.

Here they are.

This is the "Free" swap I received from Carol. Blue is my favorite color, all shades of blue, I just like blue. It is a very nice card and I am so happy to have it.

This is the "travel" swap I received from Betty. It is really amazing and creative. I only wish the scan showed the details closer. The image is actually like four cut in different ways and to make the car dimensional.

Now, in the March swap, the technique is called Black Velvet. You can see the technique demo here. Her card looks amazing, and the technique is pretty easy, the only problem I have had with trying it was finding all the supplies. I was unable to find the low odor solvent calls Sansodor but on some message boards it was discussed that a few other solvents could be used. I bought some stuff called Turpenoid which is the least hazardous according to the web anyway. The other problem I had was with finding coloured pencils. I did not want to spend $30 to buy pencils to try out a technique I didn't know if I would even like, or be able to do. At any rate, there were several different types of coloured pencils, pastel pencils, watercolour pencils, it is very confusing. I did know that somewhere I read or heard to make sure that I didn't use the colored pencils that are bought for kids to use in school. I have to admit, I tried some crayola brand colored pencils because there were a lot more colors and I already had them. The coloring part went pretty well, except for using half a pencil for one rose, not being able to sharpen them very well and I kept breaking the lead. Only on certain colors though. Not sure if it was the way I was coloring or if it was the solvent making it too soft. At any rate I bought some pencils from Michael's which held up much better. However, on the video her box clearly states that they are woodless coloured pencils. That is not what was available at Michael's. I have no idea what woodless pencils are. Finally, you are supposed to spray a fixative to the final project. My stamping of the roses looked awesome until I sprayed it. After it sputtered on, leaving splotches, I took a second look at the can and found out I had bought spray adhesive, not fixative. About the stamping, the demo suggest using large stamps with a simple design. That is what I looked for when choosing my stamps. However, I had one stamp of lady laying in some flowers that I figured would be too detailed but was very surprised at how wonderful it came out. Here are my efforts from today at learning this technique.

This is the first one. When I sprayed it, the red in the roses disappeared. Really weird there. Also, the pink rose turned streaky.

These are two I did using the same stamp. It is the same technique, except that I decided to see what a little Perfect Pearls by Ranger would look like. That would be the one on top. I think she looks kind of neat in a vintage kind of way. Actually she kind of reminds me of one of the women on the show Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, takes place during early Rome or gladiator years. I am so hooked on that show. I scanned them together, but they are actually two separate pieces.

I did these flowers and am still undecided about them. Strange thing is they look totally different now than they did when I worked them this morning. I need to learn to color the way the lady doing the demo does. Her flowers look like flowers, not like a crayon box threw up.

I came across this stamp and thought it had some promise. I really like the way it turned out. I will have to go to Michael's next week and buy a bigger set of pencils, I bought the one that has like 12 and the colors are very limited so now I will go for a bigger assortment. I REALLY need variety. Especially with this technique because there are quite a few colors that just do not show up on black. I also learned that I need a better pencil sharpener.

Today I got to go to the doctor with my daughter-in-law, all I can say is WOW has ultrasound come a long way. It was so incredible to sit and watch the little baby just bouncing around. Literally, bouncing around. Looked like it was pushing off the bottom and then floating back down, then doing it all again. Truly was affirmation that God is awesome and in charge.

Tomorrow is another class I am taking at the local scrapbooking store. It is a class for card making. Actually it more like a club, there is a class each month, she gives you a card to make using 5 different techniques. I like taking the class to learn and practice new and different techniques. It makes me complete something at any rate.

Now, hubby wants to head out camping for the week end. While I would really like to play on my quad again, we are under a winter storm watch. Where we plan to go is in the dessert, we will be fine no matter what the weather so not really worried about that, but we have to go over a set of mountains to get there and back home, which will close if they get the snow they are expecting. Plus my youngest daughter J. is going out of town with the church youth and I really hate being out of touch while she is out of town.

Thanks for dropping by and check back in to see more projects as I finish them.

What a Crazy Week

What a crazy week. I am so behind on all my computer fun, a little behind on the house, but have had fun.

I didn't realize how much of my life is associated with computer use. My laptop is what I use to post to the blog, check my mail, read other blogs, look up things on the spur of the moment. It is so infected with virus critters that I cannot do a single thing with it. Pretty nasty little guys as one of them, or all of them, have managed to disable the anti-virus program so it cannot even begin to detect them to remove them. I have some photos on there that I need to save to CD, but have been afraid I would end up saving the virus as well. Hubby assures me this is not how it works, but I am still not sure. Checked in to getting it fixed, looking at $200.00 there. For $300 can get a brand new computer. The computer guy said that probably couldn't save any of the files on it, so why not just start from scratch?

The desk top computer has a few little issues, but is workable. No one much used it, mainly it is set up because that is where the wireless router is located. At any rate, when I bought a new computer desk for it, I did not get a user friendly one. It is physically painful to use for any length of time, like more than 10 minutes. I have my eye on a new desk set that is compact. You would not believe how many of the cheaper computer desk are not set up for towers. Guess that is soon to be a thing of the past. At any rate, the desk I am looking at has a little printer stand that comes with it and it is large enough to put the tower on. If I am going to get back in to scrapbooking, or even printing off of a photos, I need to set my printer/scanner where it is a lot easier to get to for scanning. It sits on a shelf now as it is a wireless printer, which works great for printing off calendars and recipes and letters, but not at all for scanning. It can be done, but I want to scan a lot of my mom's photos and standing on tippy toe to get the paper changed and photo on the scanner glass is just really not working. So...while hubby is gone this week, I plan to work on moving things around a bit in our bedroom and just putting the desktop and printer together in a corner like it used to be. I would like to have it in my craft room, but the main connection for the internet and the wireless set up cannot be moved easily and I can move my personal schedule around to work on any computer or photo needs during the day so not to disturb my hubby who goes to sleep way early.

My little grandson emailed me the cutest note the other day. My oldest daughter, his mom, set him up a little email account so we can write to each other. Of course, just as it gets set up, I loose my computer. But I will work with what I have and it will be fine. My poor little farm is probably all dried up since I have been spending little time on Facebook.

Along with all this chaos, I joined a bowling league that bowls on Fridays. Thankfully it is a short league, because I am not going to stay on for the next session. Soon it will be summer league season and I will find a league that plays on a different day of the week. Fridays are just good days for me to commit to being there, and you pay whether you are there or not. I am having a lot of fun with it though.

As for menu planning. I didn't this week and the funny thing is how off it feels. Kind of like I am a little unsettled because of it. Hubby has been gone again this week, thankfully this is a once a year thing, and I have been really lazy about the meals with just J and I. Eating out way too much, but I will make up for it and we have been really picky about the cost and nutrition of what we eat. Over the week end, I will get the menus and recipes caught back up. I can just pick up with what wasn't used and start there. Now that I have my freezer and pantry stocked up, pretty well any way, I plan to take a whole day and plan all of February out. Monster task, but I am up for the challenge. Now that I am getting the house back to the point where it is just keep up or maintain, it will go quicker with that as well. I am aiming for better time management so I can craft with out guilt. I tend to get focused in on what I am doing, okay obsessed, and knowing that I am really making an effort to multi-task the essentials. The plan is to spend the mornings with upkeep, afternoon with crafting, then dinner and taxi service, then have the evenings to continue working on what ever project I am working on. Along with the paper crafts I am back in to I hope to add in some fabric crafts (quilting, sewing, embroidery) which for some reason I am being resistant to jumping back in to. I am sure there is some deep psychological reason for this, but refuse to evaluate that area today.

Everything seems to be going fine now with my daughter-in-law and appears to progressing with the pregnancy well. New due date is August 17. Personally, I think they are off by about a month, but what do I know? Her birthday is tomorrow, so we are having a family dinner on Sunday evening to celebrate. It has always been a tradition to go out to eat somewhere for birthdays, choice of restaurant went to birthday person. The size of our family now has gotten it to where the cost has been over a hundred, some times close to two hundred dollars. I know that it has been a real treat for everyone, especially myself, to have those little outings, but that equates to half my monthly budget for just one meal. I made the decision, with great gratitude from hubby, to change over to birthday dinners being at our house. We are going to cook steak and trimmings for every one at a fraction of the cost, and quite frankly I am so spoiled to hubby cooking the steak that the ones at the restaurant just can't compare. Now that I am getting my kitchen all tricked out with great gadgets it will be a real joy to cook larger meals, even the smaller ones for that matter. I just wished that all the things on my wish list weren't so expensive.

With that said, I have to say I am looking forward to my pressure cooker arriving. I returned the defective one and bought a little higher model that had lots of great reviews. It is dual purpose, working as an electric Pressure cooker or Slow cooker which is a bonus, especially since my favorite crock is acting crazy lately, burning everything around the edges. I actually have a few crock pots in different sizes, but am down sizing a few things to make more space in the kitchen.

That about catches everyone up with what is going on around here. Oh, one more thing, next week a national educator is coming to the local scrapbook store and I am taking one of her classes. Her name is Jenn Star and she is with Ranger inks. The class is called Ink Boot Camp and will teach a variety of ink and embossing techniques. Great thing is that the project for the class makes a 6x6 mini-album that is a reference manual for what we will be learning. I love stamping and embossing, more than the other paper crafts, so am really looking forward to this. There was another class that is devoted to techniques, but due to cost I had to choose and this class description seems to be more of what I like doing.

I slept in a little later than usual this morning due to the foggy weather, school had another fog delay, and while it was nice it sure makes the day half gone already. So it seems anyway. Off of here and on to other things. Thanks for dropping in, come back often.

Finally Friday

It is finally Friday. Has certainly been a weird week, but an okay week. Here is a little wrap up.

The menu plan was followed half the time, which beats the previous weeks where it was only a day or two. Things just happen that makes you have to adapt a bit. Like on Wed. when hubby unexpectedly pulled in to a local Mexican food place on the way home from Walmart. Then last night, Miss J went to a friends house to eat so hubby said he would just eat a bowl of cereal, I didn't argue with. Now tonight he said he would take me out since he is going to be gone all week. I have pork chops that have been thawed since Wednesday late, so will for sure make those tomorrow.

I already posted about my sick computer, I guess I will let it go to sleep a while and put it up in the closet until we figure out what to do about it. I can use the desk top, so it isn't like I am with out a computer, but I will for sure be moving things around this week so I can get the printer/scanner in the same room with the computer. Especially if I plan to print out any photos for some scrapbook projects I have going. I would like to move it in to the craft room, but that won't work as the router is set up in our bedroom and the internet cable to that room doesn't work. I will however, figure some way to make it work.

Speaking of scrapbooking, I had great time at a card making class yesterday. She has the class each month and makes themed cards for it. This month was valentine cards. Here are mine.

These were fun little cards that used a couple of different techniques. You can't really tell by the photo, but the red heart with the little silk flowers has tulle netting behind the heart to make it stand out. Here is a closer view.

With all the dry embossing and distressed edges I think that this was my favorite to make. Now I am wanting to take another class on Tues. that teaches making paper flowers. I would love to learn, but wonder if I would really make them enough to justify the cost of the class. They are so beautiful, but very bulky in my opinion for adding on to scrapbook pages or a card. The new year is bringing so many classes at the store that I think there are other classes I would get more benefit from. There are a couple of classes that are more of a club than a class and they meet each month. I think I am going to join a couple of those each month as I will really learn a lot from them and it will keep me in the mood to work on things. The two I am thinking about are the Cricut club, which is pretty much a sure thing since not only do I learn what all the Cricut can do, but I get a discounted rate on using the store's cartridges. The other is a stamping club and since I really love stamping the most, I think that would be a great one as well as getting a stamp each month.

Guess that is it for today. I am going to go grab a bite to eat and then see what I can find to work on in my craft den. If I could find my red cards with the envelopes I would start making some Christmas cards and maybe complete them by November to send out. I have an idea for a Valentine card, which will just be for decoration, so may see what I can do about making that happen.

Drop back in to see me any time.

Good Thursday Morning

Hello all, I have been out of pocket so to speak lately.

Tuesday was really busy with taking mom to a couple of places. Then didn't really get a chance to get back on the computer to visit or post. Wednesday came and went and still not sure when or how it passed through. I just kind of took a me day and did a few things for fun. Finally had a little bit of sun so just had to get out of the house...on my own. Also, woke up yesterday to find that my laptop is totally in need of the intensive care unit due to virus. I would really like a few minutes alone with the person that thinks those things up.

So, have had to come back to the old desk top that is sitting in our bed room. Guess I will have to make some adjustments to the sewing room so I can get it moved in there, it will never work to have the computer, printer and craft set up in two different rooms. Especially to work on scrapbooks, I need to be close by the scanner. Guess that will be a project that moves up the list next week while hubby is gone. This particular virus is nasty in that it is a scam virus. It puts up a message box that you have 32 virus infections, ask you to activate you anti virus program, but it takes you to an internet web site asking you for money. I am also sure that it is set up in at least two foreign (no in the US) countries if the authorities were to actually trace it and try to charge some one...anyone...for it. It would be a federal offense since a person could make a case for wire fraud and bank fraud. Like I said, just five minutes with the creator, I would like just five minutes with the person(s) that launch this mess and try (and I am sure that there are a lot of people that send them money) to profit from it.

Tuesday the dinner was okay. Not great, not bad, but okay. There was a little of the hominy left but not enough to keep and sure not enough to bother me as I tossed it in the trash. Tonight will be the pork chops that was on the menu plan for last night. We had a little shopping to do so hubby decided he was in the mood for mexican food and took us to a little place by the house. It was pretty good and the special was chicken fajitas, very good price. I must say, I had never had fajitas with mushrooms in it before. Also, their refried beans were a lighter color bean, not the pinto bean I am used to. Had a really good flavor. I am however, feeling very good at having the menu plans in place and sticking to them. However, since hubby is going to be out of town again for a week, he told me that he was taking me out Friday to where ever I want to go. Wonder what he will say when I tell him I want to go to Walmart and exchange the TV stand I have for a different one? He got me a flat screen TV for Christmas and the stand I want comes with a shelf unit and bracket unit to attach to the wall for the TV. This will be so great as the shelves are not as wide from the wall out as the chest I have sitting there and will give me a nice convenient spot to place the printer/scanner that is much easier to get to. Also will bring the eye level of the TV up so I don't feel like I am looking at the floor. At any rate, I am looking forward to the class, as it will be a little me time out of the house.

Today, I am going to the local scrapbook store for a card making class. When I say local, I mean really local, as in literally a few blocks from the house. I know how to make cards, but I really need some ideas to push me in to working on something again.

Also, hubby suggested that I join a bowling league, so I am heading up to the bowling alley to see if that vacant spot she told me about is still available. I hope it is. If it is, I will be bowling on Friday mornings. If it is already filled, I will join the new season in March.

Guess I better get moving, need to dress and get my supply bag together for the class. It was so nice and sunny yesterday and today the fog is back, can't even see the next block. I am so tired of this weather. Thanks for taking time to read my post and come back again soon.

Friday - Organizing Process

My goodness, here it is already Friday and I have only accomplished about half of what I had on my list. But at least there is progress, so I will take it.

OH MY this is so frustrating. My keyboard is not working correctly, every few keystrokes are being dropped, more like never getting there. I guess I am typing faster than the keyboard can register.

At any rate. I am taking a break to post a few things. I have been doing a lot of sorting and purging of my kitchen. Well, related to running the kitchen at any rate. I have been following so many things over on I'm an Organizing Junkie. I wish I had half the drive and passion that Laura does. I am continually inspired by not only Laura by her followers as well.

If you have been following my little blog, you already know that I am part of MPM, and am working on not only intending to plan the meals out each week, but actually putting it in writing. There are hundreds of fellow bloggers, although I am no where close to the same league as they are, that all post their menu plans as well, reading over them gives a person great ideas and some great recipes. Eventually I will add recipes to my postings, I just need to get it all together a bit more. Look back to here for my weekly menu.

Another great segment on Laura's blog is the 52 Weeks of Organizing. Each Friday she shares organizing ideas and other bloggers post what they are doing to get organized as well. I love all the creative ideas. There are also some great free printables to be found on the site as well. I caught some inspiration for my overwhelming collection of recipe print outs, cut out of magazines, cookbooks and just family shared that are written out. Before, I could not find the recipe I wanted that is one of the family favorites, couldn't even decided on what to cook that night for the meal much less think ahead for the next day. As a result, meals were thrown together and while they were edible, not very enjoyable. I used some tips from various blogs and here is how my organizing went for the week.

I needed to buy groceries and stock my freezer and pantry so I could actually get back to cooking. I couldn't even plan the day's meal because I had no meat to cook. So I thought, so I cleaned out the freezers to see what I could fine.











Was I ever shocked when I finished sorting and purging. I found enough chicken to feed this family every night for about six weeks. Found a couple of roast, package of steaks, some sausage, bacon (4 packages) and an assortment of vegetables along with a small treasure of processed single dinners for my lunches and such. I was elated. Meat is the most expensive part of the budget. I started a grocery list, did need some ground beef and pork. My family would rebel at chicken every night. Okay, then I moved on to the pantry.

Here are before and after photos of the spice cabinet, yes cabinet as I am a collector of spices and my hubby is obsessed with trying new ones. Besides, have no idea what else I would do with that little small cabinet right by the stove.


And, yes, those spices just sat all over the counter because there was no room in the cabinet. I purged out all the old spices. They don't really expire, but will loose their strength. If I opened the bottle and could not smell the spice, it went in the trash. I also had about two dozen old metal Schilling brand tin cans that still had paper price tags on the bottom. I am pretty sure that I cannot buy a big tin can full of Anise for .67 any more. I also had spices that I know where purchased when I first married, almost 30 years ago.











Here are the before and after pantry cleaning and organizing. I had so much empty space, that the after photo includes all the canned goods and such I bought when I got this bill of groceries. The pantry is the thorn in my side when it comes to this kitchen. I have a huge problem with little tiny brown moths. I will say it used to be worse, it was almost enough to drive me insane as I would walk in to the kitchen at night and hit the light to be swarmed by them. My only redeeming thoughts were that at least they weren't roaches or mice. At any rate, I found some pantry moth traps at Home Depot and those things are just awesome, true sanity savers. You see, they lay eggs that are about the size of a pin head, are sticky, and seem to melt through what ever they are attached to. Then the eggs drop through in to the box of flour, cereal, gelatin, pasta, anything and every thing. The eggs then hatch in to little larvae that look like maggots, which then spin a sticky web to hide in until they turn in to the little brown moth and start the whole thing all over again. It is always so disheartening to end up throwing away boxes of cake mixes, crackers, even rice. Long ago I took to putting most things in plastic containers, but they still get in. Well, you get the idea.

Now that I have my freezer all sorted, the spices and pantry done, had already done the fridge last week, I was then able to make a grocery list. But wait I thought, I should have some idea of what I am cooking for the next couple of weeks before I head out. I dumped all my recipes in the floor of my cave (what my hubby calls my sewing/craft room) along with my list of ingredients on hand. I was immediately overwhelmed. I quickly just pulled off about five favorites that I knew my daughter would eat. Hubby has been gone all week, so knew I could eat pasta and fish and such. I then just pulled together a more common grocery list of things I knew I was out of (because I had just cleaned the pantry out) that I use a lot of. It worked well so far.

Last night, I began sorting and purging recipes. Still have way more to go through. Also have my cooking magazines and cookbooks to go through as well. First I sort by what is TNT (tried and true) that are family favorites, then recipes I want to try sooner as opposed to someday. Then I sorted that down to meats and sides in one folder and desserts and breads in another. Once I get through all the sorting I will do a more precise sorting. I have MasterCook software on my computer and I plan to take advantage of that. I can enter the recipes (to get rid of all the pieces of paper laying out) then will save them in to a cookbook (the name of a file folder in the program) for just meal plans. I can then use the functions in the program to plan a menu, print the recipes for that meal, and it will even generate a grocery list based on the menu plan. If I really get it together, I can enter what I have on hand in to the pantry list and will check to see if I have it on hand before adding it to the shopping list. All that is farther down the road than I can realistically get to at the present, so I needed to go ahead and plan out a few weeks of of meals now.

With some ideas from a few other blogs and determining a system that would work for my way of thinking, I came up with a pretty organized little easy set up. While looking back and forth, literally across the store, through the scrapbook and school/office supplies, I found this really cool report cover.

It has a bound edge, a clear front, a clear pocket on the opposite side to keep the paper edges in for additional protection. So, I got on the computer in Excel and created a blank monthly calendar. Each week is color coded, to make it easier for the way our life works I started the week with Monday. A small open circle is in each day so I can add the corresponding date. Lines are included for writing the main dish and sides in. Now here is my creative twist. The report cover has two metal prongs to load the papers on so I can put a calendar page and all the recipes together. When I first started this, I had it in my mind that I would just use a dry erase marker and write it all in on the report cover, which wipes off easily for the next month. However, I have since decided that I will just print off one each month and just write on it with pen and note if I actually followed the plan. That will give me a record of what I made when, what was a hit and what wasn't and how long it has been since I cooked a favorite dish. Don't want to burn the family out on hamburgers. Now, I found this square cork bulletin board for pretty cheap at Walmart. When I purchased it, was going to laminate the calendar blank and use it with wipe off pens. I might eventually go to that, but felt that for just starting off this would work better for me and retain more usable information to keep me organized now that I am getting it all together. Besides, loved the little close pin clips. I just attached a piece a ribbon across it and just like hanging clothes.

Next, I wanted something that the family could look at and see what was for supper that night. You know I have a bit of an attitude from time to time so when they would ask "What's for super?" I would answer "food!" and go on with what am doing. Originally I had thought that I could make a version of a scrapbook page that permanently had the days of the week on it, a few lines beside it to write in the the main and sides, write in if we were going out or something that evening. It would be laminated so I could write in and wipe off the meal plans and activities. Would then put that on the fridge. Instead I found this cheap plastic easel type photo frame, and just used Excel to create blanks to load in the frame. I think it is a good idea.

In fact, I am going to purchase an extra easel frame to hold recipes while I am cooking. Easy hands free way of having the recipe in easy view.

The blanks are cheap to print off and then fill in. Eventually, I will get to the point to where I can just pull out the old menus, see what was liked, what wasn't and just recycle the meals. It will sure go quicker when It is all entered in the computer and I can just select the recipes for the menu plan, generate and print off the grocery list for those recipes and be done. It is a goal any way, after all, eventually I want to have the house organized so I can take the time to work on, and find the supplies I need, my hobbies. Maybe schedule it in like we do Miss J. and her ice skating lessons, Awanas, and such. I have scrapbooking on one day, laundry on one day, sewing on one day, weekly cleaning a day, quilting another day. Maybe then I will have time to do the things I want to do. Some things, like writing, blogging, reading or such are more of daily needs, but if I can get it all organized around the house, I can possibly set aside a few hours each day for the things I enjoy. Especially with the prospect of starting a little sewing business up. If I don't get my organized enough to keep the house up once it is all in order it will just not be possible to start up the little business for myself.

Also, have not been able to stick with the menu plan to well this week, but have been able to cook up a meal at home, so no expense of eating out. That is exceptional for me, what with hubby being out of town all week. Shows me that I can do it for the week that he will be gone again. We went last night an got Miss J her new glasses, which actually came in on Monday but no one from the optical called to tell me.

She is so happy to have them. She picked the frames out herself and made the comment to a friend how nice it was to be able to read the signs in the mall and be able to read the price tags. Poor kid, inherited my wonky eye sight, one eye near sided, one eye far sided. I remember getting my first pair of glasses (silver teardrop wire frames) when I was the same age as her.

The photo was taken with my new Samsung Galaxy phone. Still have a lot to learn with that thing.

Well, enough for today, I am off to move the laundry around and then back to sorting through my recipes. I am feeling really rough today so am just hanging around the house. Tomorrow is the scrapbook store's crop and bunco night and I am so looking forward to that. Probably more the bunco than the crop. The ladies at the crop are kind of snobby. I have learned however, that I am only going to work on one project. Taking only the essentials to work on that one project. I started a chipboard album for my mom and never finished it, have all the photos laid out on the pages, the papers as well as little do dads to add here and there. I am sure I will have to purchase a few things at the crop, but I am not going to overload myself again by taking so many things to work on that no progress is made at all. I will post the project on Monday. In the mean time, today will be laundry and working with the recipes. It will be a nice accomplishment just have my boxes of recipes all sorted and in one box. I have a plastic container with hanging files in it that I have designated for the use of cooking. In other words, recipes, menu plans, blanks for all of that, and the past ones. Any recipe I cook that doesn't turn out, doesn't go over with the family, will be tossed. I so look forward to being able to find what I am looking for instead of going place to place hoping to find what I am looking for.

Thanks for dropping in and have great day.

WOW! A week of this year is gone.

Goodness, a week of 2011 has already gone by, 51 more to go. Guess that is assuredly one of those "how you see it" things. Like a glass is half full or half empty. The majority of the time I tend to be a half empty type of person. Probably due to being raised by the unofficial queen of guilt and doom. I truly believe my mom just can't be happy unless she has either piled on the guilt to the point of making a person throw up their arms in surrender or unless she has at least one major point of life or situation to worry about.

For example, she worried no one would want her house, then she worried it wouldn't sell quick enough, then worried it wouldn't sell for high enough price, now it is all over and done and she is worried she will live longer than she has money to live on. I just give up with trying to figure it out. Realize that this is the same person that in one sentence tells me how proud she is of me, how talented I am, what a good mother I am. five sentences later is telling me I am a disappointment on a number of levels. You think I would just get used to it and get over it. But no. Why you ask? Because just know she tells me that she knows I have a lot of work to do around the house because she I have been having to help take care of the house contracts and such for her...hopes that now things are over we can settle down a bit and just relax or that I can get things done around the house that I need to...oh by the way, when are you coming over again?

Such is my life.

Hubby and son G. are embarking on their big ski week in the morning. They are taking our RV and staying in it. Hubby said he would pay for the campground and gas along with his lift ticket and that G. pays for his lift ticket and buys the food. He planned out the week, bought the groceries and brought them over here to load in to the trailer. He is quite a cook in all honesty, am impressed with his skills. Hanging out with the chefs on his breaks has paid off. He bought enough food to feed an army. There is no danger of starvation on that trip.

Speaking of food, it is once again time to post my weekly menu. Last week did not go as planned, mainly since I was playing around with a new gadget a few nights. But, that works out in the end as well. Yesterday I brought home my new Kitchenade mixer. I can't wait to try this puppy out and such an ordeal to get it. But today has been full of ordeals and I am still here, so those are stories for another time. I still am ticked off with AT&T at this point, but will have my revenge in the end. I already have it figured out.

Okay, here is the menu I will be posting on MPM over at The Organizing Junkie. There was 471 fellow bloggers that posted their meal plans for the week along with some recipes last Monday. I am always excited to see who all is cooking what. A HUGE INSPIRATION, so here we go.

Mon - Tamales and beans (Schwan delivery tomorrow and they are in the order)
Tues - Chicken Asian Salad
Wed - Subway (busy night with J helping at Awanas and me to a scrapbook class)
Thu - Chef Salad
Fri - Sloppy Joe's, chips
Sat - Crop & Bunco - so will find what ever in fridge
Sun - Chicken & dumplings

I am cooking very simple this week as it will only be J. and I, and the only for supper as she eats lunch at school. Also, both daughter J. and I are trying to change our eating habits to healthier ones and she asked me to make some salads. Walmart has heads of lettuce for .25 each and avocados for .25 each, another store is having a sale on grape tomatoes and bulk mushrooms so it will be pretty cheap eating as well.

Tonight I made oven baked bbq chicken, seasoned potatoes with onions and the best strawberry salad I have had at home. It is a new salad kit that contains baby spinach, dried strawberries, almonds, and strawberry vinaigrette. I am getting to where I kind of like the baby spinach. Have half of the spinach left over and will use it for the Asian chicken salad tomorrow, okay actually it will be Asian Turkey Salad as I am using left over turkey from Christmas. I put up meal size bags in the freezer to use for any recipe that calls for cooked chicken. As you can see, I cook with a lot of foil. My metal baking pans are discolored and while still perfectly functional I just can't stand the thought of my food on what looks like rust spots. Besides, makes cleaning up a breeze and since I have taken over doing ALL the dishes ALL the time I am going to make it as easy on myself as possible. Guess some would call my...reasoning...with the dishes a bit OCD, but honestly I just decided that if I am the only one doing the cleaning and putting away of the dishes then I am the only one to blame if they are put up still dirty or put away in the wrong places.

I have a lot planned for this week and if I get even a tenth of it accomplished it will a positive in my book. Thanks for dropping in, come back and visit any time.

Electric Pressure Cooker

Isn't it funny how a set of letters or a word can be the same spelling but totally different meaning based on the context.

For instance...PC

To me that always meant personal computer. Now that I am walking down some different roads I have learned that it also means Pressure Cooker and Pampered Chef.

Enough of a diversion there. Last night was my second experiment with the electrical Pressure Cooker that I had purchased. I cooked a small roast. Funny, hubby came in and saw me getting ready to brown it and commented that it was a really big roast. He has no clue as to how much they shrink when cooked. Our son G happened by, told me about his phone emergency (he dropped it in the toilet) saw the food and decided to stay long enough to eat. Weren't we so privileged? (Okay, see the huge sarcastic look in my eyes as they roll when I say that) At any rate, there was four of us for dinner. Now remember, I haven't bought groceries, my menu plan was based on what I had on hand. So, I rummaged through the pantry and found a lonely package of instant mashed potatoes, a jar of beef gravy, then made a salad to go with it all. Had some rolls left over from New Year's as well. I will be buying groceries soon, today is payday, but since I strayed from the meal plan will be able to take my time going shopping.

Back to the PC. I followed a popular recipe from my internet group, followed the limited directions for operation as well. Again, it took two cycles to cook. The roast tasted good, but could have cooked a little longer. Just about the time I finish eating, I am thinking what am I doing using this gadget if it is going only be about 10 minutes quicker than cooking it in the oven. I cleaned the kitchen and sat down and found some info on the web about this particular cooker. One comment was made about the difficulty sealing the lid and that it blocked the pressure rod. Due to the handle design, I had some reservations about how long before it broke. However, when I had cleaned the cooker back up, I did investigate and found that my lid is locking to seal, but is blocking the pressure rod. So...back it goes to the store and I will get a different model later on.

Mom's house finally sold and the final contract was sent to her yesterday for signing. It was some kind of ordeal to be sure to get that thing signed. At any rate, I am pleased that in between the trips to mom's I was able to get that nasty spice cabinet cleaned out. It was stuffed to the hilt with all kinds of spices and herbs. Many of which I have had since my first years of marriage, almost 30 years. I know they don't spoil, but at some point am sure they loose their flavor. I knew they were old because they were little tin boxes and the bottoms still had the grocery tag on them, from before scanning days. Yes Virgina a little plastic gun was used to stamp a price then attach it to the product. I had a large tin of Marjoram, barely any used out of it, I have never cooked any dish that called for it. At any rate, anything old, showed and expiration date that was expired, all thrown out. I cleaned out the cabinet shelves and put down new liner paper as well. OH IT LOOKS SO NICE! And I can actually find what I am looking for. Today I will start on the freezer and pantry. It is pay day so am ordering in pizza tonight. Shhh, don't tell hubby until it is already here. LOL

This is before.







This is after.











Well, I am off to do some household chores. Oh, can't forget, I am got my steamer. Looks great and it had really great reviews for this model from those that purchased it. Next week will have some tamales and try it out. When I buy groceries, am getting ingredients to try and make my own tamales and well as flour tortillas. Guess I need to cook a pork roast for dinner one night and then pull and shred the left overs for the tamales. Also, my mom is getting me a Kitchenaid mixer. I am making payments for it, but there is a huge sale on one I like so I can get it while it is on sale. Was putting some things away in the garage earlier and spotted a pasta maker I bought and never used. Something about mixing everything on the counter that really grosses me out, but it is something I have wanted to try. If I like it, there is an attachment for the mixer I can buy separately. I always wanted an electric one to save my arm from mixing and rolling, but the machine bought was very cheap and I can use it later on for other things as well.

Schwan man is coming on Monday. I don't buy much, but do buy things that I would never make from scratch or things I want to try to see if I like them. I am always careful and set my limit before I order and never go over. Poor guy will not be getting rich off of us. I am looking forward to trying a gnocchi dish created on the show Top Chef. I love dumplings in all forms, so know that I will probably like it. However, have been waiting for the right time to try it. My problem with cooking cheap around here, I mean frugally, is that my bunch doesn't much care for pastas or rice. Leaves out a lot of possibilities. I have two weeks this month that hubby will be gone so can try some new dishes and eat some fish.

I almost forgot, I also went yesterday and signed up for two little classes at the scrapbook store. Both are next week while hubby is gone. The first class is a Cricut class, she will show me all the features on my machine and teach me to use it. The store also has a Cricut club that meets once a month and they have over a hundred cartridges that I can take my machine to the store and rent the cartridge out to make cut outs. I think that is just amazing because I can try one out and decide if I will use it enough to buy it. Thankfully, our Walmart carries the cartridges at a much cheaper cost than the craft stores, but they don't carry some of the specialty ones or the retired ones. Then, on Saturday they are having a crop and bunco night. I paid for J to go with me and she is so excited. We play bunco up at mom's place with the ladies, and really have fun with it. I have however, in order not to be overwhelmed as I usually do to myself at crops, am only taking tools, photos, and plan on finishing up a couple of projects in progress plus I really want to try out some of those cartridges. I won't let myself dive into the crafts until I have this whole house cleaned up. I tend to get focused in one thing and want to do only that. I have a couple of sewing projects to finish up as well, but I am really ready to make a few pages and really want to make some cards. I have all these supplies that really need to be used. There is a card making class and a flower making class later in the month that I want to take as well.

Drop in again and have a great weekend.

Where Has The Year Gone?

Okay, so I am on Pacific time, so technically it is still 2010 here. It kind of blows the mind to think about the time zone thing because here on the west coast it is New Year's Eve and across the globe it is already half way in to New Year's Day. Of coarse on the east coast it is barely New Year's Day. Then again when you sit back and look at the "Great Big Picture" time is only relevant in the way you look at it. I suppose there are some that are glad the year is finally over, then there are some, like me, that can't believe the year is over.

I wanted to post one last time in 2010 as I have sat here this evening and debated in my head the directions I will and will not allow my emotions to lead me. Now everyone makes resolutions for the new year with the greatest of intentions, some are successful, most are not. But we all mean well, so it is kind of a cosmic joke about making those resolutions, and I have a list for myself as well. So, to keep myself accountable, here are a few of mine. Like I said, I am looking at things a bit differently presently so it just might be all accomplished.

I WILL NOT think about the 95 pounds I need to loose. I WILL work to loose 10 pounds in January. I will not think about how much I did not get the gym and will strive to go to the gym once a week in January.

Okay, when from this point forward, when I say this month, I refer to January.

I WILL NO LONGER have a pity party for myself. I WILL find time once a week to work on some type of project that makes me feel happy again.

I WILL NOT look at how dirty and chaotic this house is. I WILL clean, de-clutter and purge through each room of this house, completely ceiling to floor, one room a week.

I WILL NOT feel bad because I failed to post to my blog for months. I WILL make an effort to blog more often. The goal is once a week.

I WILL NOT start a new project. May write down the plan and a few notes about it, but not start it. I WILL finish one of the many projects I have left in various states of progress each month. It would literally take about 5 years at that rate, but when I finish one, will start the next until each one is finished. Maybe I can hit on some projects that are already nearer to completion from time to time so that I can possibly get more than one a month, but I will get at least one a month completed.

I WILL NOT overwhelm myself with planning months of menus. I WILL plan a month of menus for January.

I WILL NOT purchase any food (excluding essentials of milk and bread) until I know what I have in the house. I WILL clean out and reorganize the pantry, fridge and freezer.

I WILL NOT purchase any fabric or scrapbook supplies until I just have to have it. I WILL use what I have first.

You get the idea.

The recommended amount of weight loss is 2 to 2.5 pounds a week. I figure that 2.5 a week, four weeks a month, I should be able to manage 10 pounds a month. With a change in eating habits and exercise that is. There fore, actually going to the gym that I am paying for each month, menu planning for different way of cooking and eating will be essential.

In the interest of time, since I want to actually post this before midnight, I will close with a wrap up and go in to more details in the days to come. Now that I have literally I been worked on top to bottom, I want to get back to my hobbies, that of sewing, quilting, crochet, scrapbooking, and such. I am making myself a vow to work as much as I possibly can with all the supplies that I already have on hand. My oldest daughter visited for the week and one day worked on some scrapbook pages for her grandmother's (my mom) book. I showed her the supply closet, she told her hubby about it and he called me a paper hoarder. I told her I am just well stocked. May need a few little interest do dads, but will get the pages or cards done and then see if I really need anything else.

Same with my pantry. I read on one of the blogs I follow about an organized pantry challenge and I am all up for that. After doing the holiday cooking I realized I have spices from when I first married in my cabinet. I found the jar of pimentos, I spent 20 minutes looking for before deciding to leave it out of the recipe, after the dish was half way cooked. My cabinets need to be cleaned and organized so I know what I have and what I need in order to cook meals around here. I can honestly say that I could probably cook for two months off of what is in my cabinets, wouldn't be the family favorites, but they wouldn't starve either.

I also enjoy writing and want to get back to that as well. I realized this past week that I won't die, nor will anyone else, if I don't get on Facebook and Farm Town. While I enjoy the game, and reading what my friends and family post, I also came to realize that while I was mentally complaining that I didn't have time to work out at the gym, I some how found hours a day to play the game. Hence, I am writing down schedules of my time for what and throwing in a checklist to get the house cleaned and kept clean as well.

Enough blubbering about for one night. I am off to a warm bath and then plan to see the New Year in with a goodnight prayer and falling fast asleep.

Yes I know, I lead such an exciting life. Seriously, here's to a God filled and blessed year to come. Taking it one day at a time, one task at a time.

Pop on back over from time to time and see what I am working on and how I am doing on keeping my resolutions. In the mean time, thanks for stopping in and fill free to leave a comment.

I am back home

Well, I am back home. Need to finish up a few projects around the house before I can actually start sewing, but can at least see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.

Got to spend a week with the new grand son. That was totally awesome.

He is just pretty great. Long fingers, long toes, and a head full of black hair. Will be interesting to see what color his eyes turn out being. Of course, he will be walking before we see him again unless they can some how come here for Christmas. Praying, but not holding my breath.

And of course, had a great time playing with grandson #1 who is ready to be a big brother. He is just special to be around and I can't wait until next summer when he gets to come spend a few weeks with us.

Okay, now that you know what I have been doing lately. This is what I have planned. After I get the master bedroom finished and a yard sale held that is. Oh my gosh, it is almost time for school to start. I am actually looking forward to getting everything back on some type of schedule. Would like to make some clothes for my youngest daughter, but she doesn't really seem to interested in the idea. We will see. Am heading to a vintage shop this morning. Just to look around a bit. Speaking of vintage, here is the plan, think I mentioned this in an earlier post, but now have photos.

This is some fabric I picked up on clearance and the two patterns I have narrowed it down to making. After reading a few blogs that have made Butterick 4790, I think I am going to go with Butterick 5209. The main reason is because the fabric is a plisae (not sure how you would spell that) or thin with little bumps on it and do not think that it would be suitable for the wrap waist which will have some pull on it. I do however, think it would be perfect for the view made with the cap sleeves. Both of these patterns are current reprints of the original vintage pattern. I am so hooked on the vintage styles of the 40's and 50's. Simple lines that are timeless. I have noticed that several of the current lines from the fashion designers are using the same style elements in their fall lines. My only problem is trying to make patterns fit me. They are made for June Cleaver figures, I have Aunt Bea's. We will see how it turns out.

I took the day yesterday and went through the patterns that I do have, listed them, and was quite pleased with what I found I already had. There is one pattern that has me a bit baffled though. See what you think.



This is the front of McCalls pattern 5915 which I purchased many years ago. It was supposed to be my attempt at what would be called high fashion, probably from the days of Chrystal Carrington or sometime in the 80's I think.





However, after throwing it in the drawer and waiting...well, a while...I pulled it out to find that the images on the back of the envelope do not match at all. The fabric requirements and line drawing views were for a totally different outfit.





This is what I found inside.

Not even the same style skirt. At least it is of a style that I like much better. Can wear better as well. No problem there, can go with the flow as it has the sizes in it I would need. I got the bright idea that I would just google that pattern and find the correct image of one made up. Would print it out and glue it to the front of the envelope. Pretty smart right? Well imagine what I was now thinking when I googled the pattern number and this is the image that comes up for that pattern.

Yep! You got it. An apron pattern? Believe it or not, this is pretty typical of my sewing experiences. And, of course, I still have not idea what the outfit for this pattern looks like.

Well, I am off to the store. I should be working on my bedroom, laundry and such, but I am taking a break and heading out to do some looky louing. I am actually going to check the prices as I have found some vintage prom dresses and am going to open an Etsy shop and list them and some very vintage shoes that are from the 40's to see if I can get a little income coming in. I have a pretty decent stash of fabric and supplies so am planning on making some things up to put in that Etsy shop as well. Am thinking that with Christmas on the horizon that maybe I can sell some baby items, doll items, vintage styled aprons and maybe some quilts. It is a plan anyway.

Good news is that youngest DD is actually online in her room making a list of patterns she likes. OH YEAH! A local craft store has the Simplicity patterns on sale this month for $.99 and I can take the add to another craft store and they will honor it. I have a long list myself. LOL

Thanks for stopping in and feel free to leave a comment. It is always nice to know that someone has read my postings.

Short post - room is done

Just a short post, it is late and am ready to take a soak and get some sleep. I am so happy I finished setting up my sewing room today.

This is the before photos.

This is wall one. This is the wall with the closets. This is a view of some of the wallpaper left still to remove. Apparently it strips in layers. I have come to a major decision about wallpaper, no more is ever...and I do mean no more ever...is allowed on my walls. That goes for stickers and scotch tape as well.

Now then, after removing all that wallpaper and painting and shampooing carpet, my sewing/craft room is all set up. At least ready to be used that is, still have some things packed away that need to be brought out, am still hunting the thread rack, but the next job is cleaning the bedroom up and making the changes I want in there.

Thought you might enjoy the after photos to see the end result.
This is the view as you walk in. That was my dad's chair there in the corner.

This is a view of my shelves that I brought in from the bedroom with all my scrapbooking, stamping, and bead supplies. The famous Cricut is there with all the cartridges and you can't see it, but the bottom shelf is full of my Sizzix stash.

This shows my blue wall. Had to play with the colors a bit. I like the mountains and the beach, so ended up using the colors of the ocean I guess. Sand colored walls, blue wall, then green trim and on the closet doors. Doubt it would win any designer type awards, but it works for me. So nice and calm in there. The thing, I repurposed a lot of storage containers and such so it only big expense was the paint.

And, back to the beginning, but this shots shows off the green doors a little.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. I hear that bath calling my name.