Thursday, December 29, 2011

Simple Living

Irish Soda Bread



We had a simply wonderful Christmas with turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, baked beans (  I made these), fresh veggies, cheeses, pies and the pictured Irish Soda Bread. It was a wonderful meal and a   special time with family. It was cooked by my husband, who if I haven't mentioned before is just fabulous!


special Christmas snow on Dec 25th!

We have had a simple week of stay cation at home. We are visiting with family. We are playing games, sharing stories and cooking meals. We have been working out and watching TV. Of course, there is always a sickness going through. Most of us had it last week, but my son in law had to go to the walk in clinic this morning. I think we will all be well enough to ring in the New Year with joy!

That's what I call simple living at it's finest. Happy New Year to all!!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas to all !

I love Christmas and all it represents. I love my family. I love my husband. I love giving gifts.
What else can you say about the beauty of this time of year?

Merry Christmas and God bless us every one!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Tiny Tuesday

Three more Farmers Wife blocks done. The foundation papers are out of order so here they are by name
Top: Friendship
Bottom l to r: Friendship Block and Four Winds


I have been working on my Aunt's tree quilt and long arming customer quilts. I have been to wrestling tournaments. I made a 5 hour car ride one way to pick up a sick kid from a tournament Saturday. I cleaned and shopped like a mad woman yesterday.

Now, I hope to avoid the sickness. I did go to the gym tonight for balance. I have had to go to other offices and work twice in a week. All of the driving one hour to get there is really wearing me out. I am not a driver anymore. I am a bit worn out. Yawn.

Doesn't matter, Christmas is coming!!!

Monday, December 19, 2011

Merry Christmas!

A bit of sewing and quilting here and there. Need to do more but there is always next week when I am on vacation!

This picture is the first of a few pages,  in book I have,  that I will share over the week.
Merry Christmas to all, peace to you and your family.


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

The Happiness Project

It is interesting that I chose Wednesday to do updates on the happiness project. It is mid week. I usually workout after my day job then go work at the studio. I feel very satisfied afterwards.

Happiness is keeping my focus on what I need to do today. I have plans to complete the tasks I need to do before Christmas and not look too far ahead. Slowly all will be done and I have plenty of time. I just need to stick to the plan. Hmm, easy to get off on a tanget but I keep working on that.


Saturday, December 10, 2011

Tatting

Here is what I did today, in between the rounds at an all day wrestling tournament. Really it was all day, we had to get up at 5 and be to Bay City by 9 am. We weren't done till 4 then we ate dinner. We didn't get home until 830! It was a pretty good day for the team and for our son.

This project is tatted and going to be a bookmark.I tat using a shuttle.  It needs a crocheted tail and tassel yet. And the final ironing and starching. Tatting takes a long time to made a small project such as this and my great grandmother called it "fancy work." No wonder, because there really is not practical use for tatting. It is fragile and purely made for embellishments. But it is fun to do and the projects are pretty.


Friday, December 9, 2011

Simple Living Christmas


quilted by me for Sue


How does one keep Christmas simple? It is so easy to over commit, over spend, over decorate and over eat.
I made a decision to not do any of that this year. Pretty simple, isn't it?
NOT

In the years past, I had a hard time saying no. I have already turned down several things.


  • No to a community concert because I am spending the time with my family and sports
  • No fretting about the food for two potlucks that I am participating in, not to mention the ones I have already said no to
  • No overspending, when the cash in my wallet is gone, so is the shopping
  • No overdecorating, I just put portions of the decorations out years and have a new "theme" yearly based on what I have. I need no more.
  • No to performing the the Christmas Eve service at church because I have no time to practice properly and sanely
  • No to eating out of obligation or excess. STOP when full and get no more until I am really, physically hungry
  • No eating out of stress or frustration


Those are my simple living survival tips. I heard Dave Ramsey say something yesterday on his show that really stuck with me. "Adults make a plan and stick to it. Children do what feels right. Are we choosing to be adults or children?"


Do you have any tips????



Thursday, December 8, 2011

Happiness Project

I am a bit late on the Happiness Project update this week. Wrestling season has started and it keeps us busy. Last night DS had one match and won. His school won the meet. It was very close. And exciting and roller coaster ride all evening. Well, that is the nature of sports, isn't it? It always make me happy and proud to see our team's hard work and dedication pay off in a win. But it isn't the ultimate goal for me. The process of being part of something bigger than your self and a better person through sport is my goal.

I have been working on December's goal to dwell on the year's resolutions and to keep them as a part of life not as a new goal. I have also wanted to dwell on Christmas and the spiritual meaning of it. So I have decided to ponder the meaning and motivation I have for gift giving this week. It makes me very happy to do so. It can also make me sad because I want to do more than I can, every year.

Gift giving is a beautiful reminder of God's love for us. That is enough to keep in mind as I shop.


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Tiny Tuesday

Country Path

Country Farm

Corn and Beans

Contrary Wife

Churn Dash

The next five are completed, I just noticed that they are in alphabetical order in the construction directions of the book. I think the Country Path is a bit small so I will add a little border on it if necessary.

My previous post is cute about my husband (and me) ,  recent Chinese Fortune. What do yo think it means?


Monday, December 5, 2011

My husband and I got the same fortune on Saturday!
What does this mean? :)

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Random thoughts

Mutant squirrel


I live in an old neighborhood. The newest house was built in the 1950’s. The rest of the homes on my block are pre-depression era homes. During that time many trees were planted. Very popular trees to plant were black walnut trees. So were cedar hedges.

Now these trees are very mature. They are tall and majestic. So are the cedar hedges that used to line my house. They are now taller than my 2 story home. And this is where the squirrels live.

Tons of them! We have red squirrels that are mean and vocal. The large black squirrels that seem to dominate the gene pool and have eyes that blend into their fur color. The last variety is the common grey squirrels. They have pretty markings around the large black eyes.

These squirrels are fast. The race through the trees, jumping from branch to branch. The defy gravity by these high treetop feats. The branches bend and sway. The branches seem way too small to hold their weight.

They run across the utility wires without hesitation or losing a step. These creatures chase each other nonstop, looking for those dreaded black walnuts. They chase each other away from their territory. The chase each other just to chase, I have decided.

I watch the squirrels when I am outside gardening. I usually find those nuts in my flower bed. I hear them crashing through the trees. I see the high wire act as I drive to and from my house because the utility wires are prominent there.

It was in my drive I noticed this most unusual squirrel. I couldn’t help but notice his unusual fur color. His arms were black. The fur was long and thick. His tail was black and bushy. His head was flecked with grey hairs and his eyes were difficult to see due to the dark fur that surrounded them.

But his body was a light color. I watched this genetic mystery for several days. I had formulated a hypothesis that the squirrels were interbreeding with each other and he was the result. I thought this may be a scientific interest, because I thought it was.

On my way to work, I saw that mutant again. I was concerned that he may be so different from the others that he would be picked on. He was fast, agile and big. He was also very cute. His body hair was getting very light and he looked like he had a tuxedo with a white vest on.

Why is his hair so unique I thought? I took a closer look as he ran across the high wire. I saw that the body hair was short. In fact, he was going bald on his torso. The cute little vest was really baldness!

Or disease, probably mange! So much for my fascinating observation of scientific proportions

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Simple Living update

Over thinking or  why does my bathroom still smell?

I have been on a quest. You may not find it qualifies as a quest but it has become one to me. Maybe you would call it obsessing, ruminating or whatever. I choose to call it a quest.

I have an older home. It is really old, about 100 years old and the last bathroom remodel was in the 1980’s. It has tile around the fixtures that has no finish left on them. It is almond color and yes the toilet is an old fashioned high flow water flusher, but that is another story. It is the only bathroom in the house so it gets used a ton. Several showers a day, so it is damp often.

I clean it often. Weekly. Wipe up often in between. I have used several cleaners. Borax, Green clean by Clorox, bleach wipes and Mr Clean Erasers are all my weekly choices. I have tried changing shower curtain liners. I have washed the walls and every other surface I can think of. But it still smells. I think it that the surfaces in that room have absorbed the odors!



So, I took my husband’s advice and bought an air freshener. Simple solution.